Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's small music venues.
He was awarded the award on 16 October as his third album his work was named the best record of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues had in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it weren't for all the gigs I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation helped venues that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties stemming from flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.
Some locations received funding support in modernizing amenities and gear that helped musicians and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from performances in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
Back when the band received the trophy in the year 1996 for their release the album, lead singer Cocker announced that the act would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, musician the artist split her prize between multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she told the media.
In recent years, the band gave their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they gave their winnings to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," said artist the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected two grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in the city and the other in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
