Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to save the Britain's independent live music spots.
Fender was given the cheque on mid-October as his new release People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages had in his initial steps.
"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 further afield, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly 16% of the total UK scene.
Recently, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
He also took part, generating more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 local spots across Britain.
These funds assisted spaces that were confronting possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in modernizing amenities and gear that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from performances in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it all starts for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his award winnings to good deeds.
In Pulp received the prize in 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer she shared her award between several good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required updated gear," she told a publication.
In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners they gave their award to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," stated singer Heather Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had saved a couple of local spots in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in the city were acquired under the community ownership program, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
