Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25k award winnings to the MVT, which functions to save the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
The star was awarded the prize on mid-October as his latest record the album was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
The money supported venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues caused by flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues obtained funding support in upgrading amenities and gear that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The notion that funds from performances in large arenas supports the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
Fender is among several artists to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.
When Pulp received the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, frontman Cocker declared that the band would donate their cash to the non-profit the charity.
That year, artist the artist shared her prize among a few organizations, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite told outlets.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners M People gave their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," said artist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
One venue in that area and The Croft in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by a national body and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
