Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
Fender was presented with the award on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the best record of the past year.
The musician has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the crucial part local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it weren't for all the performances I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help independent venues.
He also participated, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation supported venues that were confronting imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from floods, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Other venues were granted monetary aid in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The idea that money from performances in big venues supports the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
Fender is among several artists to give his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
In Pulp earned the prize in the year 1996 for their release their work, lead singer the singer declared that the act would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her prize among multiple charities, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," the artist told a publication.
In recent years, they contributed their winnings to the youth organization that supported their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked vocalist Small. "The money was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT shared it had rescued several small stages in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The first in the city and the second in that location were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the properties.
