Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 award prize money to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
The star was given the award on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition 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 performances I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also took part, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money assisted spaces that were facing imminent closure due to issues stemming from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in improving amenities and technical equipment that helped artists and fans.
"The concept that money from concerts in big venues backs the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
Back when Pulp earned the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would donate their winnings to the organization War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she divided her award across multiple organizations, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," the artist shared with outlets.
Previously, they donated their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their group, as well as other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group contributed their award to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked singer Heather Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved two local spots in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in the city were purchased under the community ownership program, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "shares" in the properties.
