Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's independent music venues.
Fender was given the cheque on 16 October as his third album the album was named the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his beginning days.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, top acts including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, generating more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped locations that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and gear that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from shows in big venues backs the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to donate his award winnings to good deeds.
When they earned the prize in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman the singer declared that the act would donate their winnings to the charity the charity.
That year, rapper and singer the artist shared her prize across several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed updated gear," she explained to outlets.
In recent years, the band contributed their prize money to the youth organization that supported their act, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally winners that year they donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the illness.
"The victory was sufficient," remarked artist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our winning affected somebody else's life."
Recently, the MVT revealed it had saved several grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.
The first in that area and The Croft in the city were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by a national body and supporters who acquire "ownership units" in the buildings.
