Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which works to protect the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
The star was given the cheque on October 16 as his latest record the album was declared the best record of the past year.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues played in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his live tour to help thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Some locations received financial assistance in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and fans.
"The notion that money from performances in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.
Fender is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
In Pulp won the prize in the year 1996 for their album the album, frontman Cocker declared that the group would give their prize money to the organization the charity.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite divided her bounty between several organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they required updated gear," the artist explained to outlets.
In recent years, the band donated their winnings to the youth organization that supported their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Also 1994 winners the group donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.
"Winning was sufficient," stated vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in the city and the other in Bristol were bought under the community ownership program, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the properties.
