Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
He was presented with the award on October 16 as his third album the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the region, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.
Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist 38 local spots across Britain.
These funds supported locations that were facing imminent closure due to challenges caused by water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.
Additional spaces received funding support in improving facilities and technical equipment that helped musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that funds from concerts in large arenas supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.
He is far from the only musician to donate his award funds to charitable organizations.
In they received the prize in the mid-90s for their release their work, lead singer Cocker announced that the band would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
That year, rapper and singer the artist split her award among multiple organizations, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," the artist explained to outlets.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the community center that developed their band, in addition to other local music groups.
Also winners that year the group gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," stated artist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched another person's life."
Last week, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of small stages in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and the second in that location were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the venues.
