Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which operates to preserve the UK's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was awarded the prize on 16 October as his new release the album was named the top album of the previous year.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Recently, top acts such as the band Pulp, the group 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 costs, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also took part, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported venues that were facing imminent closure due to issues arising from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues received financial assistance in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The idea that money from shows in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
He is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
When the band earned the prize in the mid-90s for their release their work, lead singer Cocker announced that the band would contribute their winnings to the organization War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her award among a few charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also donated a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told the media.
Previously, the band contributed their winnings to the local youth club that supported their act, in addition to other local music groups.
And winners that year the group gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected a couple of local spots in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and the other in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.