Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25k award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
He was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his third album People Watching was named the best record of the past year.
Fender has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the crucial part small stages had in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to support numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The money assisted spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to difficulties caused by flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.
Some locations were granted funding support in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from shows in big venues backs the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
The musician is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
In they earned the award in the year 1996 for their record their work, frontman Cocker stated that the band would contribute their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite split her bounty among several good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I gave a grand to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked new equipment," she shared with a publication.
Previously, they gave their funds to the local youth club that developed their act, as well as other independent music bodies.
And winners that year the group gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the illness.
"The victory was quite enough," said artist Heather Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory affected another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected several small stages in the South East, by placing them under local control.
The first in the city and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
