Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the UK's small live music spots.
The star was presented with the award on 16 October as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
Fender has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, top acts like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 local spots across Britain.
These funds supported locations that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from shows in large arenas helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.
He is far from the only musician to donate his award funds to worthy causes.
When Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their record their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their winnings to the organization War Child.
That year, musician Ms Dynamite shared her bounty among multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," she shared with outlets.
Two years ago, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that supported their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the illness.
"The victory was ample," said artist Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success affected somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT announced it had saved a couple of local spots in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.
