Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 award cash to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's independent music venues.
He was presented with the award on October 16 as his new release People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16% of the total UK scene.
In the last year, major artists including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
These funds helped spaces that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces were granted funding support in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The concept that money from performances in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
Back when Pulp won the award in the mid-90s for their album their work, frontman the singer announced that the group would contribute their prize money to the charity War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite divided her award across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required updated gear," she told outlets.
Previously, they donated their prize money to the community center that nurtured their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients the group donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and the second in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "stakes" in the properties.
