Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which works to save the UK's independent concert spaces.
He was presented with the prize on October 16 as his new release his work was declared the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
Fender has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
In the last year, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
He also participated, generating over £100k on his live tour to support 38 local spots across Britain.
The money helped venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues caused by floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from shows in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
Back when Pulp received the prize in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, frontman the singer declared that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist the artist divided her bounty across multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," the artist told the media.
Previously, the band donated their funds to the community center that developed their band, as well as other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners the group contributed their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"Receiving the award was ample," said vocalist the singer. "The money was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the trust shared it had rescued a couple of small stages in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and the other in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.
