Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25,000 award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the Britain's grassroots music venues.
He was presented with the award on mid-October as his third album his work was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has decided to give the cash to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also participated, raising in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to support thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
The donation helped spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from flooding, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and sound issues.
Additional spaces received funding support in improving amenities and gear that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The concept that money from performances in big venues backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp earned the prize in the year 1996 for their album their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would donate their cash to the organization the charity.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite split her bounty across multiple good causes, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"The victory was ample," said vocalist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory affected another person's life."
Recently, the MVT announced it had protected several local spots in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.
One venue in the city and the second in that location were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
