Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
Fender was awarded the prize on mid-October as his latest record the album was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
The musician has decided to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues had in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 local spots across Britain.
These funds supported venues that were facing possible closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in improving facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas supports the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.
He is far from the only musician to give his honor prize money to worthy causes.
When they earned the award in the year 1996 for their album the album, lead singer the singer stated that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, musician she split her award among a few charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," she told outlets.
In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the community center that supported their group, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients the group contributed their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our success touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had saved several local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in the city and the second in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership program, which is backed by a national body and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the venues.
