Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which works to protect the Britain's independent concert spaces.
Fender was presented with the award on October 16 as his new release People Watching was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots played in his initial steps.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to help 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation assisted locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues caused by flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.
Additional spaces received funding support in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that helped performers and fans.
"The notion that money from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.
Fender is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
Back when Pulp earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their release their work, frontman Cocker declared that the band would give their winnings to the organization the charity.
That year, rapper and singer she divided her bounty across multiple organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," the artist shared with a publication.
In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the community center that developed their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Also 1994 winners the group contributed their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning affected another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued two local spots in that region, by placing them under local control.
The first in that area and the second in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
