Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 award winnings to the MVT, which functions to protect the Britain's independent concert spaces.
The star was presented with the award on 16 October as his latest record his work was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function small stages had in his early career.
"I would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I did around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, top acts such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to assist numerous local spots across Britain.
The donation helped venues that were dealing with possible closure due to issues caused by floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Additional spaces received funding support in modernizing facilities and gear that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The idea that money from concerts in big venues helps the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
Back when Pulp earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their record the album, frontman Cocker declared that the group would give their prize money to the charity the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her bounty across several charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked updated gear," she explained to outlets.
In recent years, they donated their winnings to the local youth club that developed their group, alongside other local music groups.
Additionally winners that year M People gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.
"The victory was ample," remarked vocalist Small. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT shared it had protected two grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by a national body and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
