Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the Britain's independent concert spaces.
Fender was awarded the prize on mid-October as his third album People Watching was declared the top album of the previous year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots had in his beginning days.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Recently, top acts such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
The money assisted locations that were confronting imminent closure due to difficulties arising from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.
Some locations obtained funding support in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The notion that funds from performances in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," the star has said.
Fender is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
When Pulp received the prize in the year 1996 for their release the album, frontman the singer stated that the act would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
That year, musician the artist shared her bounty among a few organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told the media.
Previously, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the youth organization that supported their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Also winners that year they donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked singer Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success affected the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had saved several grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in that area and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
