Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which works to protect the Britain's independent concert spaces.
The star was given the award on mid-October as his latest record his work was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
He has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages played in his initial steps.
"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.
He also participated, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
These funds assisted venues that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Other venues were granted monetary aid in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and fans.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in large arenas supports the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
He is among several artists to donate his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.
Back when they won the trophy in 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite divided her bounty between a few charities, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," she explained to outlets.
In recent years, they donated their winnings to the community center that developed their act, as well as other local music groups.
Also the 1994 recipients the group contributed their award to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success touched somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued a couple of local spots in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
The first in that area and the second in Bristol were purchased under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.
