Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k award winnings to the MVT, which works to save the UK's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was given the award on 16 October as his third album People Watching was declared the best record of the past year.
He has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role local spots played in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also took part, generating more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support numerous local spots across the UK.
The donation helped venues that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The concept that revenue from shows in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.
When they earned the trophy in 1996 for their release their work, vocalist Cocker stated that the group would donate their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she split her award between a few organizations, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," the artist explained to a publication.
Previously, the band contributed their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And winners that year they gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success affected somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT announced it had rescued a couple of local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
The first in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and music fans who acquire "shares" in the venues.
