Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small live music spots.
The star was awarded the award on mid-October as his latest record the album was named the outstanding release of the past year.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the gigs I did around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation assisted locations that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges arising from floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from shows in big venues backs the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to contribute his honor winnings to good deeds.
When they earned the prize in the mid-90s for their record the album, vocalist Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the organization the charity.
In 2002, musician she shared her bounty between a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I donated a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," the artist shared with the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners M People gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was ample," remarked singer the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT shared it had protected two local spots in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in Southampton and The Croft in that location were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
