Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the Britain's small concert spaces.
The star was given the prize on 16 October as his new release People Watching was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages had in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 small stages across the UK.
These funds helped venues that were facing imminent closure due to challenges caused by floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues received financial assistance in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and audiences.
"The concept that funds from concerts in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
When they won the trophy in 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist Cocker announced that the group would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite divided her prize among a few charities, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," she explained to the media.
Two years ago, the band gave their funds to the local youth club that supported their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients M People donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," said artist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the trust revealed it had protected several grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under local control.
The first in the city and The Croft in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
