Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the Britain's small live music spots.
Fender was given the award on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
He also participated, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous small stages across the UK.
These funds helped spaces that were confronting possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in modernizing facilities and gear that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from performances in major spaces supports the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has commented.
He is among several artists to give his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
When Pulp received the trophy in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would give their prize money to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician she divided her award across several charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," Ms Dynamite explained to outlets.
In recent years, they gave their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally winners that year the group contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked artist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success touched another person's life."
Recently, the trust announced it had protected several grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "shares" in the venues.
