Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
He was given the cheque on mid-October as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages played in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the area, and beyond, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation supported spaces that were facing imminent closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Some locations received funding support in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that funds from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
Back when the band received the award in the year 1996 for their album the album, frontman Cocker stated that the group would contribute their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty between several charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed updated gear," she shared with a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," said vocalist the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success touched another person's life."
Recently, the trust announced it had protected two grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the other in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
