Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the United Kingdom's independent music venues.
The star was given the cheque on mid-October as his new release People Watching was named the top album of the previous year.
He has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the performances I did around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his recent tour to support 38 grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation helped venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.
Some locations received funding support in upgrading facilities and gear that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The notion that money from performances in major spaces helps the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
He is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
In Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their album the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician she split her prize between a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," she shared with a publication.
In recent years, the band donated their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their act, alongside other local music groups.
And 1994 winners they contributed their winnings to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the illness.
"Winning was quite enough," said artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued two grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and the second in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by a national body and music fans who purchase "shares" in the properties.
