Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small music venues.
The star was given the award on 16 October as his latest record his work was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part local spots played in his early career.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation assisted locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The notion that money from concerts in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his honor winnings to charitable organizations.
In Pulp won the trophy in the year 1996 for their record the album, vocalist the singer stated that the group would contribute their prize money to the charity the charity.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite divided her bounty across a few good causes, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked updated gear," she told outlets.
In recent years, they donated their funds to the local youth club that supported their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year M People contributed their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked artist Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success affected somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had saved a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to local control.
One venue in Southampton and the second in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
