Sam Fender has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's small music venues.
Fender was given the award on 16 October as his new release People Watching was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role small stages played in his initial steps.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation helped spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties arising from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and sound issues.
Some locations received monetary aid in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that revenue from concerts in large arenas supports the independent spots, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to donate his award prize money to charitable organizations.
In they won the trophy in 1996 for their album their work, lead singer Cocker declared that the group would give their prize money to the organization the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her bounty between a few charities, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," she explained to a publication.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the community center that developed their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Also the 1994 recipients the group gave their award to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success touched another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected two grassroots venues in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in the city and the second in Bristol were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "shares" in the properties.
