Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's small music venues.
The star was awarded the cheque on mid-October as his new release the album was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to give the cash to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.
Sam Fender also participated, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds supported venues that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and fans.
"The concept that revenue from shows in large arenas supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has commented.
He is not the first artist to contribute his honor winnings to charitable organizations.
Back when the band won the prize in 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist the singer announced that the band would give their cash to the organization War Child.
In 2002, artist the artist split her award across a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," she explained to a publication.
Previously, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Also winners that year the group gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory affected another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued two local spots in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in the city and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who purchase "shares" in the venues.
