Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
The star was given the award on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it weren't for all the shows I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the total UK scene.
Recently, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous small stages across the UK.
The donation assisted locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Some locations were granted financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from shows in large arenas backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has said.
He is among several artists to give his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when they won the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, lead singer the singer stated that the act would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, rapper and singer the artist shared her bounty among several good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band gave their winnings to the community center that supported their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And winners that year they gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the disease.
"The victory was ample," said singer Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected two grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.
