Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to save the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
Fender was awarded the award on 16 October as his new release his work was chosen as the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has opted to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role small stages had in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported locations that were facing possible closure due to challenges caused by flooding, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that helped performers and fans.
"The idea that funds from shows in large arenas supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
He is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.
In they received the trophy in 1996 for their record the album, frontman Cocker announced that the group would contribute their cash to the charity War Child.
In 2002, musician the artist split her prize among multiple charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
Previously, the band contributed their winnings to the community center that nurtured their act, as well as other independent music bodies.
And winners that year the group donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked artist Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued several small stages in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in that area and the other in that location were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the venues.
