Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the UK's independent live music spots.
The star was presented with the award on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the best record of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages had in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across the UK.
The money assisted venues that were facing potential shutdown due to issues arising from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.
Other venues obtained monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from shows in big venues helps the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
He is among several artists to contribute his honor prize money to worthy causes.
In Pulp earned the award in 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their cash to the non-profit the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her prize among a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked new equipment," she explained to a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that supported their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And 1994 winners they donated their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the illness.
"The victory was ample," remarked singer Heather Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted another person's life."
Last week, the MVT announced it had rescued several local spots in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in that location were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
