Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the UK's independent concert spaces.
The star was presented with the cheque on mid-October as his third album the album was declared the top album of the previous year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to help thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation supported spaces that were facing possible closure due to issues arising from floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that helped performers and audiences.
"The notion that funds from concerts in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his award funds to charitable organizations.
In Pulp received the trophy in 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist the singer declared that the act would donate their prize money to the organization the charity.
That year, musician the artist split her bounty between multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," she told outlets.
Previously, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that supported their act, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the condition.
"Winning was ample," said artist Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued two grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
One venue in the city and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by a national body and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the buildings.
