Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which functions to protect the UK's independent music venues.
Fender was presented with the award on mid-October as his third album the album was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part local spots played in his initial steps.
"I would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising over £100k on his live tour to assist 38 local spots across Britain.
The donation assisted spaces that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from flooding, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted monetary aid in improving amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The concept that money from shows in large arenas supports the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
When they won the prize in the mid-90s for their album their work, frontman the singer stated that the act would donate their winnings to the organization War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite divided her bounty across a few charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist explained to outlets.
In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the local youth club that developed their group, alongside other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients the group contributed their winnings to a MS organization after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," said artist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success touched the lives of others."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued two small stages in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and The Croft in the city were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who purchase "shares" in the buildings.
