Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the MVT, which works to preserve the UK's grassroots live music spots.
The star was given the cheque on mid-October as his third album People Watching was declared the best record of the previous year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Recently, major artists such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation helped spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to issues stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in modernizing amenities and gear that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The idea that revenue from shows in major spaces supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
Fender is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.
When Pulp earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their release the album, frontman Cocker declared that the band would give their prize money to the charity the charity.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty among a few charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," she shared with a publication.
In recent years, the band donated their winnings to the community center that developed their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Also 1994 winners M People contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was diagnosed the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," said artist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our success affected somebody else's life."
Recently, the MVT announced it had protected several small stages in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.
The first in that area and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who acquire "stakes" in the venues.
