Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the MVT, which works to preserve the Britain's independent music venues.
Fender was given the prize on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was named the top album of the last 12 months.
He has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to help 38 local spots across the UK.
The money supported venues that were facing imminent closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in improving amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The concept that money from shows in big venues backs the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to give his honor prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when they earned the prize in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the group would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.
During 2002, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty across multiple organizations, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," the artist explained to a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the local youth club that supported their band, as well as other local music groups.
Also winners that year the group donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory touched another person's life."
In the past week, the trust revealed it had saved two local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
