Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25,000 honor cash to the trust for venues, which functions to save the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
Fender was presented with the prize on mid-October as his third album the album was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has opted to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots had in his initial steps.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.
Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to support numerous local spots across Britain.
The money helped venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Some locations received financial assistance in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.
"The notion that revenue from performances in large arenas helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.
He is among several artists to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
When Pulp won the award in 1996 for their album the album, vocalist the singer stated that the group would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her award between several organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
Also the 1994 recipients the group donated their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked artist Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted another person's life."
Recently, the MVT announced it had protected two grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.
One venue in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition program, which is funded by a national body and music fans who buy "shares" in the buildings.
