Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which operates to preserve the UK's grassroots music venues.
Fender was awarded the award on mid-October as his new release his work was declared the best record of the past year.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages played in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous local spots across Britain.
The money assisted locations that were dealing with possible closure due to issues stemming from water damage, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and gear that helped artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in large arenas backs the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to donate his award prize money to charitable organizations.
When Pulp earned the prize in the mid-90s for their record their work, vocalist Cocker declared that the group would donate their cash to the organization the charity.
That year, musician she split her award across a few organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told the media.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the youth organization that supported their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners they donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had saved two local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the public acquisition program, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who acquire "shares" in the buildings.
