Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
Fender was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist numerous local spots across the UK.
The money helped venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces were granted funding support in upgrading facilities and gear that helped artists and audiences.
"The idea that money from shows in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
Back when the band received the prize in the year 1996 for their release the album, frontman Cocker announced that the group would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, musician the artist divided her prize among multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," the artist explained to a publication.
Two years ago, they donated their winnings to the community center that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
And 1994 winners the group contributed their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory affected somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT shared it had protected two local spots in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in that area and the second in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "shares" in the buildings.
