Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was presented with the award on 16 October as his new release his work was declared the best record of the previous year.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots played in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.
He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation assisted locations that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in upgrading amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The idea that revenue from shows in big venues backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.
He is not the first artist to give his honor winnings to worthy causes.
When Pulp won the award in the mid-90s for their album their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
During 2002, musician the artist divided her bounty between a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band gave their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People donated their award to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was ample," remarked artist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory affected the lives of others."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had protected several small stages in south-east England, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
