Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the UK's small live music spots.
Fender was given the award on October 16 as his new release the album was declared the best record of the last 12 months.
The musician has opted to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
The donation supported spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to issues stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that helped artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in large arenas backs the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
He is not the first artist to donate his honor winnings to good deeds.
In the band received the award in the year 1996 for their record Different Class, lead singer the singer announced that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
During 2002, musician she shared her bounty among several good causes, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed updated gear," she told the media.
Two years ago, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
Also the 1994 recipients they gave their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success affected somebody else's life."
Recently, the trust shared it had protected a couple of local spots in that region, by placing them under local control.
The first in Southampton and the second in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
