Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
The star was given the award on mid-October as his new release People Watching was named the outstanding release of the past year.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.
Fender also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
These funds helped locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to issues caused by flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.
Other venues obtained funding support in modernizing infrastructure and gear that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from shows in large arenas supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has said.
He is far from the only musician to donate his award prize money to charitable organizations.
In they received the trophy in 1996 for their album the album, frontman the singer announced that the group would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer she split her bounty across multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she explained to the media.
Previously, the band donated their prize money to the community center that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
Also the 1994 recipients M People gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the condition.
"Winning was ample," said singer Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning affected the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved a couple of small stages in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in the city and the second in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition program, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who acquire "shares" in the venues.
