Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k award prize money to the trust for venues, which works to protect the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was given the cheque on mid-October as his new release People Watching was declared the top album of the past year.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues had in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Recently, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The money assisted spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in improving amenities and technical equipment that helped musicians and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from shows in big venues helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," the star has stated.
He is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.
In the band won the award in 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer declared that the group would give their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, artist Ms Dynamite shared her prize between a few charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," the artist told outlets.
Previously, the band contributed their funds to the community center that nurtured their band, alongside other local music groups.
And 1994 winners they contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"The victory was quite enough," said singer Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our success affected another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued a couple of small stages in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in that area and the other in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is funded by a national body and music fans who purchase "shares" in the buildings.
