Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was given the cheque on 16 October as his third album his work was declared the top album of the past year.
The musician has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues had in his beginning days.
"I couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.
He also took part, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation supported spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations received funding support in modernizing amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The concept that money from concerts in big venues helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his award winnings to good deeds.
When Pulp received the award in 1996 for their album the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would give their cash to the organization the charity.
During 2002, artist she shared her award across a few organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," she told the media.
In recent years, they donated their prize money to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year M People donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," said singer the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory affected somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved a couple of local spots in the South East, by placing them under local control.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in the city were acquired under the community ownership program, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who purchase "shares" in the buildings.
