Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.
He was given the award on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues had in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, top acts including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation supported venues that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The concept that funds from shows in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
He is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.
In Pulp earned the trophy in 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the group would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her award among multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they needed updated gear," she told a publication.
Previously, they gave their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their group, as well as other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group gave their award to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked artist Heather Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our winning affected somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had rescued a couple of local spots in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The first in the city and the second in the city were purchased under the public acquisition program, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.
