Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the MVT, which works to protect the UK's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was awarded the prize on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his early career.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped spaces that were confronting possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Some locations obtained funding support in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The notion that money from performances in major spaces helps the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
In the band won the prize in the year 1996 for their release their work, lead singer the singer stated that the act would give their cash to the charity War Child.
That year, musician she shared her bounty across multiple charities, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"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 needed better apparatus," she explained to a publication.
In recent years, the band contributed their funds to the local youth club that supported their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients they donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," stated vocalist Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued a couple of local spots in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in that area and the second in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
