Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the Britain's independent live music spots.
He was presented with the prize on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was named the outstanding release of the past year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the performances I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Fender also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 local spots across the UK.
The donation helped locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties arising from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.
"The concept that money from concerts in large arenas supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
When Pulp earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their release their work, vocalist the singer announced that the act would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her prize among several charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," the artist shared with outlets.
Two years ago, they donated their prize money to the community center that developed their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," said vocalist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in Southampton and The Croft in the city were purchased under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
