Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which works to save the Britain's small concert spaces.
He was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his latest record his work was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots had in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.
Sam Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 local spots across the UK.
The donation assisted venues that were confronting possible closure due to issues caused by water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from shows in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.
He is among several artists to contribute his award funds to charitable organizations.
When Pulp earned the prize in 1996 for their record the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her award between several organizations, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," she explained to a publication.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the community center that developed their band, alongside other local music groups.
And winners that year they contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved two small stages in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in the city and the second in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the properties.
