Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
Fender was awarded the cheque on 16 October as his third album his work was named the best record of the past year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots had in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist numerous local spots across Britain.
These funds helped venues that were facing imminent closure due to issues caused by floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.
Some locations obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The notion that funds from shows in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has stated.
Fender is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
When they won the prize in 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the group would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, musician Ms Dynamite shared her prize across several charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told the media.
Previously, they donated their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, as well as other independent music bodies.
And winners that year the group gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated vocalist Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory touched another person's life."
Last week, the MVT shared it had rescued a couple of local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in that location were purchased under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
