Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which works to protect the UK's grassroots concert spaces.
He was given the award on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
He has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also participated, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to support thirty-eight local spots across the UK.
These funds assisted spaces that were facing imminent closure due to issues arising from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and gear that helped performers and fans.
"The idea that revenue from performances in big venues supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his award winnings to charitable organizations.
In Pulp received the prize in 1996 for their album the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would donate their winnings to the charity the charity.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite divided her bounty across several good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," she told outlets.
Two years ago, the band donated their funds to the community center that supported their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also winners that year they gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"Winning was sufficient," remarked singer Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved several grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were purchased under the community ownership program, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "stakes" in the venues.
