Sam Fender has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the Britain's small music venues.
He was given the cheque on mid-October as his new release the album was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"I couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, top acts such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
He also took part, raising over £100k on his live tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped locations that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Other venues were granted monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The concept that money from performances in major spaces backs the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," the star has stated.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
In they received the prize in the mid-90s for their record the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would contribute their cash to the charity War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer the artist divided her bounty among several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I gave a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," she shared with a publication.
Previously, the band donated their prize money to the community center that developed their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also 1994 winners M People contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked singer the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the extra, because we had the honor. So our success impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued two small stages in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and supporters who purchase "shares" in the properties.
