Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.
He was awarded the prize on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has decided to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.
Recently, top acts such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his live tour to help 38 small stages across Britain.
The money helped spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in large arenas supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to give his award prize money to good deeds.
Back when the band received the trophy in the mid-90s for their record the album, lead singer Cocker stated that the act would contribute their prize money to the organization the charity.
During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her bounty across several organizations, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she explained to a publication.
In recent years, they gave their funds to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year they donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"The victory was sufficient," said singer Heather Small. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success touched somebody else's life."
Recently, the trust revealed it had rescued several small stages in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by a national body and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the venues.
