Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's small music venues.
Fender was awarded the prize on October 16 as his third album the album was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
He has opted to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages had in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I did around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.
He also joined in, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds assisted venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues arising from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in improving amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in large arenas helps the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.
In they won the award in the year 1996 for their record Different Class, lead singer the singer declared that the band would give their winnings to the organization the charity.
That year, musician the artist divided her award between a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told the media.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective gave their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," said artist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued a couple of small stages in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and The Croft in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership program, which is funded by the arts council and music fans who purchase "shares" in the properties.
