Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25,000 award prize money to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was given the cheque on 16 October as his new release People Watching was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
The musician has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists including Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation supported locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues obtained monetary aid in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The notion that money from shows in big venues backs the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
He is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
In the band earned the award in 1996 for their album the album, frontman Cocker stated that the band would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, rapper and singer the artist divided her prize among multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite told the media.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients M People gave their award to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected several small stages in south-east England, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in Southampton and The Croft in the city were purchased under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "shares" in the properties.
