Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the UK's small live music spots.
The star was given the prize on mid-October as his new release his work was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots played in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 small stages across Britain.
The money assisted locations that were facing potential shutdown due to issues arising from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues received financial assistance in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that helped musicians and audiences.
"The notion that money from concerts in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.
Fender is far from the only musician to give his honor funds to good deeds.
Back when they received the prize in the year 1996 for their release the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would give their cash to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, musician the artist divided her award between several good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite told a publication.
Previously, the band gave their funds to the local youth club that supported their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally winners that year they donated their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the MVT revealed it had saved two grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The first in the city and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "stakes" in the venues.
