Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the MVT, which operates to preserve the UK's small live music spots.
Fender was given the award on mid-October as his latest record the album was chosen as the top album of the previous year.
The musician has opted to give the cash to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money assisted spaces that were facing possible closure due to issues caused by water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces supports the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.
Fender is among several artists to give his honor funds to good deeds.
In Pulp earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist Cocker declared that the act would give their prize money to the charity War Child.
That year, artist the artist divided her bounty among a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.
In recent years, they gave their prize money to the community center that developed their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year they contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," remarked artist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the MVT shared it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
