Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25,000 award prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
Fender was awarded the award on mid-October as his new release People Watching was named the best record of the previous year.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots played in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.
He also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
The money assisted spaces that were facing imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations received monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The notion that money from concerts in large arenas supports the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
He is among several artists to donate his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
In the band earned the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, lead singer Cocker declared that the band would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite divided her bounty among a few organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," she shared with the media.
Two years ago, they contributed their funds to the community center that supported their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Also winners that year they donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was ample," stated singer Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected several local spots in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.
