Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which works to protect the Britain's small concert spaces.
He was given the award on 16 October as his latest record his work was declared the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
The musician has opted to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages had in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to support the industry, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also participated, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Some locations received monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from concerts in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to give his honor prize money to good deeds.
In Pulp earned the prize in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, vocalist Cocker stated that the group would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she shared her bounty across several charities, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told outlets.
Previously, they donated their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their band, in addition to other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated singer Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning affected somebody else's life."
Last week, the trust shared it had protected two grassroots venues in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in that area and the other in that location were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by a national body and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the venues.
