Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor cash to the MVT, which operates to save the Britain's grassroots music venues.
Fender was given the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the past year.
Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the crucial part local spots had in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the performances I did around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits independent venues.
Fender also participated, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Some locations received financial assistance in improving facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The idea that funds from shows in major spaces supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," the star has said.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
When they received the trophy in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer declared that the act would contribute their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her award between a few organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I contributed a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she told outlets.
Previously, they contributed their prize money to the youth organization that developed their act, alongside other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients they donated their award to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," said singer Heather Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected another person's life."
In the past week, the MVT announced it had protected a couple of small stages in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and The Croft in that location were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by a national body and enthusiasts who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
