Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25,000 award winnings to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was given the prize on mid-October as his new release his work was named the best record of the last 12 months.
He has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.
He also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to support thirty-eight local spots across the UK.
These funds supported locations that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties arising from flooding, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in improving infrastructure and gear that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from concerts in big venues backs the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just sensible," the star has stated.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
In the band received the trophy in the year 1996 for their album their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer the artist split her bounty across several charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
Previously, the band contributed their prize money to the youth organization that supported their group, in addition to other local music groups.
Also winners that year they gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," stated vocalist the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected another person's life."
Recently, the trust revealed it had rescued a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The first in the city and the other in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
