Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the Britain's grassroots music venues.
Fender was presented with the award on October 16 as his new release his work was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues played in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.
In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
The donation helped venues that were facing potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and sound issues.
Some locations received monetary aid in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The concept that funds from shows in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," the star has stated.
He is among several artists to give his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
When Pulp won the prize in the mid-90s for their release their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.
During 2002, artist she split her prize among multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to a publication.
Previously, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners the group donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was ample," said vocalist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The first in the city and the other in that location were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by a national body and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the properties.
