Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which functions to save the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
The star was given the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots played in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, raising over £100k on his live tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
These funds assisted venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties caused by flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and noise complaints.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in improving infrastructure and gear that positively impacted performers and fans.
"The concept that money from performances in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his honor winnings to charitable organizations.
Back when the band earned the prize in 1996 for their release their work, vocalist Cocker stated that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer she divided her bounty between multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required updated gear," the artist shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band gave their winnings to the community center that supported their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners M People gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked singer the singer. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our success affected the lives of others."
Last week, the trust shared it had saved a couple of small stages in the South East, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in the city and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by a national body and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
