Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the MVT, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.
The star was given the prize on 16 October as his new release the album was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
The musician has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages had in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.
He also took part, generating over £100k on his recent tour to support numerous small stages across the UK.
The money helped spaces that were facing possible closure due to challenges caused by water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.
Other venues were granted funding support in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from concerts in big venues backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
He is among several artists to give his honor prize money to worthy causes.
In Pulp won the prize in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, artist the artist split her prize between several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," the artist explained to the media.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year the group gave their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was diagnosed the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated singer Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the MVT shared it had rescued several local spots in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who purchase "shares" in the properties.
