Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the UK's small music venues.
He was given the prize on October 16 as his new release People Watching was chosen as the best record of the past year.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots had in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to support 38 grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation helped locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues caused by flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces were granted funding support in upgrading amenities and gear that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The concept that revenue from concerts in big venues supports the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.
The musician is among several artists to give his award prize money to good deeds.
When Pulp received the prize in 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman the singer stated that the act would contribute their prize money to the charity War Child.
In 2002, artist the artist divided her prize across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
Two years ago, the band gave their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also 1994 winners they gave their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked singer Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT announced it had rescued several small stages in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership program, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the properties.
