Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the MVT, which works to save the Britain's small live music spots.
The star was given the award on mid-October as his latest record his work was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part small stages had in his initial steps.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his live tour to support numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation supported locations that were facing potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received funding support in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to contribute his award funds to good deeds.
Back when Pulp won the prize in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the group would donate their cash to the organization the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her bounty across multiple charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told the media.
Previously, the band contributed their winnings to the community center that supported their group, as well as other local music groups.
Also the 1994 recipients M People contributed their award to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," said vocalist the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Last week, the trust revealed it had saved several local spots in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in the city and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
