Sam Fender has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
The star was presented with the award on 16 October as his new release the album was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I would not have achieved this success if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked the artist. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help 38 grassroots venues across the UK.
The money helped locations that were facing potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations received monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that helped musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from shows in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
He is far from the only musician to contribute his award funds to worthy causes.
Back when the band won the prize in the mid-90s for their record their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would give their cash to the charity the charity.
During 2002, rapper and singer she split her prize between multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," the artist told the media.
In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"The victory was sufficient," said artist Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success affected somebody else's life."
Recently, the trust announced it had protected a couple of local spots in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
The Joiners in that area and the other in Bristol were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by a national body and enthusiasts who acquire "shares" in the properties.
