Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
He was given the award on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the top album of the previous year.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues had in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.
Fender also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money helped locations that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties caused by floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.
Additional spaces were granted financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in big venues backs the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his honor funds to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their record the album, frontman Cocker declared that the band would give their prize money to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite split her bounty across several charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite told outlets.
In recent years, they donated their funds to the community center that nurtured their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory touched the lives of others."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved two local spots in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and the second in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership scheme, which is funded by the arts council and music fans who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
