Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25k award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was awarded the prize on October 16 as his latest record the album was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
He has opted to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.
Sam Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation assisted spaces that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from water damage, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues received monetary aid in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that helped artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in large arenas supports the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," the star has stated.
He is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
In the band earned the prize in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her bounty among a few organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," she explained to outlets.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the community center that developed their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners the group contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated singer the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our success affected somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT announced it had saved several grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
One venue in that area and The Croft in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by a national body and supporters who acquire "shares" in the properties.
