Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the Britain's small concert spaces.
He was given the cheque on October 16 as his latest record People Watching was declared the best record of the past year.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
Fender also took part, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across the UK.
The donation helped locations that were facing possible closure due to issues arising from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces were granted funding support in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and fans.
"The idea that money from concerts in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
In Pulp received the trophy in 1996 for their album their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would give their prize money to the charity War Child.
During 2002, artist the artist shared her award among a few charities, including the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite explained to outlets.
Previously, they gave their funds to the youth organization that developed their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also 1994 winners M People donated their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"The victory was sufficient," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted the lives of others."
In the past week, the MVT shared it had saved several local spots in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and the second in the city were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
