Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small live music spots.
Fender was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his latest record the album was declared the top album of the past year.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the region, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.
He also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
These funds helped spaces that were facing possible closure due to difficulties arising from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained funding support in improving amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from performances in big venues helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.
The musician is among several artists to donate his award funds to good deeds.
When they won the award in the year 1996 for their record the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would donate their winnings to the charity the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer the artist divided her prize between a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they required updated gear," the artist shared with the media.
In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that developed their group, alongside other local music groups.
Additionally 1994 winners the group gave their award to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," remarked vocalist the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the trust shared it had rescued two grassroots venues in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were purchased under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "stakes" in the properties.
