Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which works to save the Britain's grassroots music venues.
The star was presented with the cheque on mid-October as his latest record his work was chosen as the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages had in his initial steps.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his live tour to support 38 grassroots venues across the UK.
These funds supported spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, court cases and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that helped performers and fans.
"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is among several artists to give his award prize money to good deeds.
When they won the trophy in the mid-90s for their album their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she divided her prize across a few charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I donated a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked new equipment," the artist explained to outlets.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And 1994 winners M People gave their award to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"Winning was ample," stated vocalist Small. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued a couple of local spots in that region, by bringing them into local control.
The first in the city and the second in that location were purchased under the public acquisition program, which is backed by a national body and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
