Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the UK's small live music spots.
He was awarded the cheque on mid-October as his new release the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages had in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately one-sixth of the total UK scene.
In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
He also participated, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money assisted locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.
Other venues received monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from performances in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
In the band received the trophy in 1996 for their album their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would donate their winnings to the organization the charity.
In 2002, artist the artist shared her prize across multiple good causes, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," she explained to the media.
Previously, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the local youth club that developed their group, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally 1994 winners M People contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked singer the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued a couple of local spots in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
One venue in that area and the other in that location were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
