Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which works to save the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
Fender was given the award on mid-October as his third album his work was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.
Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The money helped locations that were facing possible closure due to difficulties arising from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The notion that money from concerts in big venues supports the independent spots, where it all starts for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
The musician is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
When they received the prize in the year 1996 for their album the album, frontman Cocker declared that the group would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, musician Ms Dynamite shared her award between several organizations, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite told the media.
Previously, the band gave their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their band, alongside other local music groups.
Additionally winners that year M People gave their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.
"Winning was ample," said singer Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had rescued several grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
The first in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by a national body and supporters who purchase "shares" in the properties.
