Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the UK's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was awarded the award on 16 October as his new release his work was named the best record of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which benefits smaller concert halls.
He also participated, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation assisted locations that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted monetary aid in modernizing facilities and gear that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from performances in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
He is among several artists to donate his honor funds to worthy causes.
When they received the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite shared her award across multiple charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," she told the media.
Two years ago, the band donated their prize money to the community center that developed their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And 1994 winners M People gave their award to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," said vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT shared it had rescued two grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
