Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which works to protect the UK's independent concert spaces.
The star was presented with the prize on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function local spots played in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 local spots across Britain.
These funds supported locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties arising from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in upgrading amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The idea that money from shows in major spaces helps the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
He is not the first artist to donate his award funds to good deeds.
In they received the award in 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the act would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, artist Ms Dynamite shared her bounty across several organizations, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," she told the media.
In recent years, the band gave their funds to the community center that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients the group donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," remarked vocalist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and The Croft in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the properties.
