Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k award winnings to the MVT, which works to save the UK's independent music venues.
He was given the cheque on October 16 as his new release People Watching was chosen as the best record of the past year.
Fender has opted to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits independent venues.
Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from flooding, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in improving facilities and gear that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The concept that funds from performances in big venues supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.
The musician is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
When they earned the award in 1996 for their release their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
That year, artist the artist split her bounty across a few charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," she told outlets.
Previously, they donated their prize money to the youth organization that supported their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year they donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," said singer the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning affected another person's life."
Recently, the MVT shared it had rescued two grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the venues.
