Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to save the UK's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record his work was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
He has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"I couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, top acts such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist numerous small stages across Britain.
These funds helped venues that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties arising from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and gear that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The concept that funds from shows in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
Fender is among several artists to give his honor winnings to charitable organizations.
When they won the trophy in the year 1996 for their album the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would give their winnings to the organization War Child.
That year, musician she divided her prize among multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist shared with the media.
In recent years, they gave their funds to the community center that nurtured their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners the group donated their winnings to a MS organization after a acquaintance was diagnosed the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," said vocalist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning touched another person's life."
In the past week, the trust announced it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and The Croft in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the properties.
