Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
Fender was given the cheque on 16 October as his new release the album was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his beginning days.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the gigs I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
He also participated, generating over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist 38 small stages across Britain.
The money supported locations that were facing possible closure due to issues caused by floods, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Some locations received monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from shows in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.
Back when Pulp earned the prize in 1996 for their album their work, frontman the singer declared that the group would donate their winnings to the charity the charity.
During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her award among a few charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," she shared with outlets.
Two years ago, the band gave their funds to the local youth club that developed their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And 1994 winners they gave their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was ample," remarked vocalist the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success impacted another person's life."
Last week, the MVT revealed it had protected several small stages in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition program, which is funded by a national body and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the buildings.
