Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the MVT, which works to save the UK's independent music venues.
He was given the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds assisted venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces were granted funding support in improving facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The notion that funds from performances in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for performers like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
When Pulp won the trophy in the year 1996 for their album their work, frontman Cocker stated that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist she divided her bounty among multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they required updated gear," she explained to the media.
Previously, they contributed their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And 1994 winners they donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was identified with the disease.
"The victory was sufficient," stated artist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued several local spots in that region, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in Southampton and the second in the city were bought under the community ownership program, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who acquire "stakes" in the venues.
