Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which operates to protect the UK's small concert spaces.
He was given the award on mid-October as his new release People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also participated, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported venues that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties stemming from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues received financial assistance in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to donate his award winnings to charitable organizations.
Back when they won the award in 1996 for their release their work, frontman Cocker declared that the act would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, musician Ms Dynamite divided her prize among a few charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also donated a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told outlets.
Two years ago, the band contributed their funds to the community center that supported their act, in addition to other local music groups.
Also the 1994 recipients they gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," remarked singer the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success touched somebody else's life."
Recently, the MVT announced it had saved a couple of small stages in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
One venue in Southampton and the second in the city were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is supported by a national body and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
