Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the MVT, which functions to preserve the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was presented with the award on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has opted to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
He also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist 38 small stages across the UK.
The money helped venues that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in improving facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from performances in large arenas supports the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
He is far from the only musician to give his award winnings to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp received the prize in the mid-90s for their album their work, frontman the singer announced that the group would donate their cash to the charity the charity.
That year, artist she split her bounty among several good causes, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," the artist shared with a publication.
Previously, they donated their funds to the youth organization that supported their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group gave their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," said singer Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched another person's life."
Last week, the trust revealed it had rescued several small stages in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in Southampton and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who purchase "shares" in the buildings.
