Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k award prize money to the MVT, which operates to protect the Britain's small music venues.
He was awarded the cheque on 16 October as his new release the album was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages had in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 grassroots venues across the UK.
The money helped venues that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges stemming from floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces were granted financial assistance in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
He is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
When they won the trophy in 1996 for their record Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the act would give their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
In 2002, musician she divided her award among a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked new equipment," the artist told the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their group, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year the group contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," stated artist Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected several grassroots venues in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in the city and the other in the city were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
