Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
He was presented with the award on October 16 as his new release his work was declared the best record of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to help thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
The money helped locations that were facing imminent closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations received funding support in improving facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from performances in large arenas supports the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
When they received the award in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, lead singer Cocker stated that the act would give their winnings to the organization War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her award between a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked new equipment," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.
Previously, they contributed their prize money to the local youth club that supported their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year M People contributed their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was diagnosed the disease.
"The victory was sufficient," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning affected another person's life."
Recently, the trust shared it had saved two grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "stakes" in the venues.