The artist has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the Britain's independent music venues.
Fender was awarded the award on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, top acts such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation supported venues that were confronting potential shutdown due to issues arising from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received funding support in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that helped performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from concerts in large arenas helps the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
The musician is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
Back when Pulp received the prize in 1996 for their album their work, vocalist Cocker stated that the act would contribute their prize money to the non-profit the charity.
That year, musician she shared her prize among several organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," she shared with a publication.
In recent years, they contributed their funds to the youth organization that supported their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
And the 1994 recipients they contributed their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was ample," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory touched another person's life."
Recently, the MVT shared it had protected several grassroots venues in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.
One venue in the city and the second in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
