Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which works to protect the Britain's small live music spots.
He was presented with the award on mid-October as his latest record the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots had in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation assisted venues that were facing possible closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations obtained funding support in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that funds from shows in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
When the band won the trophy in the mid-90s for their album the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
In 2002, artist she divided her award across multiple organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to a publication.
In recent years, they gave their prize money to the youth organization that supported their group, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners the group donated their award to a charity for MS after a friend was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated singer Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected a couple of small stages in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in the city and the other in that location were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "shares" in the buildings.
