Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the Britain's small concert spaces.
The star was awarded the prize on 16 October as his latest record his work was named the best record of the previous year.
Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
In the last year, top acts like the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
He also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
The money assisted spaces that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
In they received the award in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer she divided her prize across several good causes, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she shared with the media.
Previously, Ezra Collective gave their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Also the 1994 recipients M People gave their prize to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the condition.
"Receiving the award was ample," remarked vocalist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched another person's life."
In the past week, the MVT shared it had saved a couple of small stages in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The first in the city and the second in the city were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "shares" in the properties.
