Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the UK's small music venues.
He was presented with the award on October 16 as his new release his work was chosen as the best record of the past year.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the region, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked the artist. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, top acts including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, generating over £100k on his live tour to support 38 local spots across the UK.
These funds supported spaces that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties caused by water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues backs the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
He is among several artists to give his award prize money to worthy causes.
Back when the band earned the prize in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist the singer declared that the band would contribute their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
That year, rapper and singer she split her prize across a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
In recent years, the band gave their funds to the community center that developed their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And the 1994 recipients the group contributed their award to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was ample," remarked vocalist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
In the past week, the trust announced it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
The first in Southampton and the other in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "shares" in the properties.
