Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which works to protect the United Kingdom's small music venues.
He was presented with the cheque on mid-October as his third album People Watching was declared the top album of the previous year.
He has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues played in his early career.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help 38 local spots across Britain.
The donation helped spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges stemming from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and gear that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from concerts in large arenas supports the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
He is far from the only musician to contribute his honor funds to worthy causes.
In Pulp received the award in the mid-90s for their release the album, vocalist Cocker declared that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization the charity.
During 2002, musician the artist shared her bounty among multiple organizations, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist told the media.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the community center that developed their band, as well as other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners the group donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the trust revealed it had saved two local spots in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership program, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who acquire "ownership units" in the buildings.
