Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
He was presented with the award on mid-October as his third album his work was declared the best record of the past year.
Fender has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues played in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to assist 38 local spots across the UK.
These funds helped venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.
Some locations received monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The notion that money from shows in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has said.
He is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
Back when the band won the trophy in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would donate their prize money to the organization the charity.
During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her award between a few charities, including the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," the artist explained to a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other local music groups.
Additionally 1994 winners the group gave their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," said singer Heather Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
Recently, the trust revealed it had rescued several small stages in that region, by placing them under community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the other in that location were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by the arts council and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
