Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which works to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
He was given the cheque on October 16 as his latest record his work was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role small stages had in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the gigs I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have ceased operations – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous local spots across Britain.
These funds assisted locations that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues obtained monetary aid in modernizing amenities and gear that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The concept that money from shows in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to contribute his honor prize money to worthy causes.
Back when the band received the award in the year 1996 for their release the album, vocalist Cocker declared that the group would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
In 2002, artist the artist divided her bounty between multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.
Previously, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the youth organization that supported their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year M People contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success impacted the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT shared it had rescued several local spots in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in the city were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the properties.
