Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which operates to protect the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
The star was presented with the award on mid-October as his third album the album was named the best record of the past year.
Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.
He also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to support numerous small stages across the UK.
The donation assisted spaces that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Some locations were granted funding support in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from performances in big venues helps the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when they earned the prize in the mid-90s for their release their work, vocalist Cocker stated that the band would contribute their cash to the non-profit the charity.
That year, musician Ms Dynamite divided her award across a few organizations, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," the artist shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And the 1994 recipients the group contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist Small. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected several small stages in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.
One venue in that area and the other in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "shares" in the venues.
