Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the MVT, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
The star was given the cheque on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was declared the top album of the previous year.
He has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Recently, major artists like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped venues that were facing possible closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in improving facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The idea that money from concerts in large arenas supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
In the band won the prize in the year 1996 for their record the album, frontman Cocker declared that the group would contribute their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
That year, musician Ms Dynamite divided her award between a few organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist explained to the media.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their group, as well as other local music groups.
And winners that year they gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"The victory was ample," remarked singer Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the MVT announced it had saved two local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
The first in that area and The Croft in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "shares" in the venues.
