Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.
The star was presented with the prize on mid-October as his third album his work was declared the best record of the previous year.
Fender has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages played in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.
Fender also participated, raising in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to support numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
These funds helped locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained funding support in modernizing amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that funds from shows in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when the band won the award in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the act would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.
In 2002, artist Ms Dynamite divided her award between multiple charities, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," she shared with outlets.
Previously, they gave their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
And winners that year they donated their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," stated vocalist the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success affected another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected several small stages in that region, by bringing them into local control.
The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
