Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
He was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
He has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part small stages had in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.
He also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds supported locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to issues caused by flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received funding support in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas supports the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
In the band earned the award in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, vocalist Cocker announced that the band would give their cash to the organization the charity.
That year, rapper and singer she shared her prize across multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," she explained to a publication.
Two years ago, the band contributed their funds to the youth organization that supported their act, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients the group gave their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated vocalist Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the trust revealed it had protected a couple of local spots in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the second in that location were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the properties.
