Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25k award cash to the MVT, which operates to save the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
The star was presented with the prize on 16 October as his new release his work was named the outstanding release of the past year.
He has opted to give the cash to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages played in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also took part, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous small stages across the UK.
These funds assisted locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges caused by flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The notion that money from performances in big venues backs the independent spots, where it all starts for performers like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.
In Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their release the album, frontman the singer declared that the band would donate their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her award across multiple good causes, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I gave a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," she told outlets.
Previously, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their group, as well as other local music groups.
And 1994 winners M People donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was identified with the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," said artist Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the trust shared it had rescued two grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
One venue in the city and the second in that location were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who acquire "shares" in the properties.
