Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the UK's small live music spots.
The star was given the cheque on October 16 as his third album his work was declared the best record of the past year.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part grassroots venues had in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to support the industry, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to support 38 grassroots venues across the UK.
These funds supported locations that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations obtained funding support in improving facilities and gear that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The idea that funds from performances in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is among several artists to donate his award prize money to worthy causes.
Back when they won the prize in the mid-90s for their album their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would contribute their winnings to the charity the charity.
In 2002, musician the artist split her bounty across a few charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a grand to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that supported their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients M People contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated artist the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued two small stages in that region, by bringing them into local control.
The first in that area and The Croft in the city were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is backed by a national body and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.
