Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the Britain's grassroots music venues.
He was given the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the top album of the past year.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about 16% of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to assist 38 small stages across Britain.
The money supported locations that were facing imminent closure due to difficulties caused by floods, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from shows in big venues helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
The musician is among several artists to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.
When Pulp won the award in 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer declared that the act would donate their cash to the charity War Child.
That year, musician she divided her award among a few organizations, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told the media.
Previously, they gave their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their band, as well as other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners they gave their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked artist Small. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT announced it had rescued two grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in that location were purchased under the public acquisition program, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "ownership units" in the buildings.
