Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25k honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the Britain's independent music venues.
Fender was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a small levy to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across Britain.
The money helped locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The concept that money from performances in large arenas supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is among several artists to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.
When Pulp received the award in 1996 for their release their work, frontman the singer announced that the group would give their prize money to the non-profit the charity.
During 2002, rapper and singer the artist divided her bounty among several good causes, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I contributed a grand to the center, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
In recent years, they contributed their winnings to the local youth club that supported their group, in addition to other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners M People gave their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"The victory was quite enough," stated artist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Last week, the MVT shared it had saved two grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to local control.
One venue in that area and the other in Bristol were bought under the community ownership program, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "shares" in the venues.
