Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to save the UK's small live music spots.
He was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his third album the album was chosen as the top album of the previous year.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, top acts such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
He also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from performances in big venues backs the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to donate his honor funds to worthy causes.
Back when the band received the award in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, frontman the singer announced that the band would give their cash to the non-profit the charity.
In 2002, artist she split her prize between multiple organizations, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she told a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the local youth club that supported their group, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And 1994 winners M People donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," stated vocalist Small. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the MVT announced it had protected several local spots in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The first in that area and the second in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
