Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the MVT, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
The star was awarded the prize on 16 October as his new release People Watching was named the best record of the past year.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots had in his beginning days.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, top acts including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
Fender also participated, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
The money helped locations that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges arising from water damage, fires and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Other venues received financial assistance in improving amenities and gear that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from concerts in big venues backs the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," the star has stated.
The musician is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
When Pulp earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their album their work, frontman the singer declared that the group would give their cash to the non-profit War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she shared her bounty among several good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told a publication.
Two years ago, the band donated their winnings to the community center that supported their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally winners that year the group gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated artist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory affected another person's life."
Recently, the MVT revealed it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
One venue in that area and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who acquire "shares" in the buildings.
