Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
He was given the award on October 16 as his new release People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages had in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.
He also took part, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight small stages across the UK.
These funds helped locations that were facing potential shutdown due to issues caused by floods, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The idea that funds from concerts in big venues helps the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," the star has commented.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
In the band won the trophy in 1996 for their album the album, vocalist Cocker announced that the act would donate their winnings to the organization War Child.
In 2002, artist she shared her bounty across several charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," she told the media.
In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the community center that supported their group, as well as other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People contributed their award to a charity for MS after a friend was diagnosed the illness.
"The victory was ample," remarked singer Small. "The money was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved two small stages in the South East, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in that area and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by a national body and supporters who purchase "shares" in the properties.
