Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the Britain's small concert spaces.
The star was given the prize on October 16 as his new release People Watching was chosen as the top album of the past year.
The musician has opted to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the vital role local spots played in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.
Sam Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his recent tour to support numerous local spots across the UK.
The donation assisted spaces that were dealing with possible closure due to issues arising from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.
Some locations were granted financial assistance in modernizing facilities and gear that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from performances in major spaces backs the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has stated.
He is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.
When the band earned the prize in the year 1996 for their album their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would contribute their cash to the organization the charity.
That year, musician she shared her bounty across several organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required updated gear," the artist told the media.
Two years ago, they contributed their prize money to the community center that developed their band, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally 1994 winners the group contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," stated vocalist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory touched another person's life."
Last week, the trust shared it had saved two local spots in that region, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by a national body and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the properties.
