Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the MVT, which works to save the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
The star was awarded the prize on 16 October as his third album the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
Fender has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages played in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support thirty-eight small stages across the UK.
The money supported spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
Fender is among several artists to give his award prize money to charitable organizations.
When the band won the trophy in 1996 for their release Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her bounty among multiple organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," she told the media.
In recent years, the band donated their winnings to the youth organization that developed their group, alongside other local music groups.
And winners that year M People contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked vocalist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory affected somebody else's life."
In the past week, the trust shared it had saved a couple of small stages in the South East, by placing them under local control.
The Joiners in that area and the second in that location were bought under the public acquisition program, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who buy "stakes" in the venues.
