Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was awarded the cheque on mid-October as his new release the album was named the top album of the previous year.
The musician has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function local spots played in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the performances I did around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Recently, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.
Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his recent tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money helped venues that were facing possible closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in modernizing amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues backs the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
The musician is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
When they received the prize in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist Cocker declared that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
During 2002, musician she divided her prize between several good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite explained to a publication.
Previously, they donated their funds to the community center that developed their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally 1994 winners the group donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"The victory was ample," remarked vocalist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success impacted another person's life."
Last week, the MVT revealed it had rescued a couple of local spots in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
