Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the Britain's small concert spaces.
He was awarded the cheque on mid-October as his new release People Watching was declared the top album of the past year.
Fender has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"I would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds supported venues that were facing imminent closure due to difficulties arising from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that funds from performances in major spaces backs the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
Back when they won the award in 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would give their cash to the organization War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer she shared her prize across several charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," the artist told outlets.
Previously, they gave their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the condition.
"Winning was sufficient," remarked singer Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory affected somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT announced it had saved two grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.
The Joiners in that area and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the venues.
