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The star has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound award prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the Britain's independent music venues.

Fender was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his new release his work was named the outstanding release of the previous year.

Fender has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are struggling."

Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the total UK scene.

Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.

Sam Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his live tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation supported venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues caused by flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.

"The concept that money from concerts in large arenas backs the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.

He is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.

Back when they won the award in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would contribute their winnings to the organization the charity.

In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her award among multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"Additionally, I gave a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they needed updated gear," the artist shared with a publication.

Previously, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that supported their group, in addition to other local music groups.

And the 1994 recipients M People gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.

"Winning was quite enough," remarked vocalist Small. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched somebody else's life."

Recently, the MVT revealed it had rescued a couple of small stages in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.

One venue in the city and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.