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The star has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the MVT, which operates to save the Britain's independent live music spots.

He was given the prize on 16 October as his latest record the album was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.

Fender has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his initial steps.

"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said the artist. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.

He also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 small stages across Britain.

These funds helped venues that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.

Other venues received monetary aid in upgrading amenities and gear that helped artists and concertgoers.

"The concept that money from concerts in major spaces helps the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.

He is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.

When the band won the award in 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist Cocker declared that the act would contribute their winnings to the organization War Child.

That year, musician the artist split her award between multiple charities, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I contributed a grand to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she told a publication.

Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the local youth club that supported their group, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

Also 1994 winners they donated their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.

"Winning was quite enough," stated singer Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected another person's life."

Recently, the MVT announced it had rescued several small stages in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.

The first in Southampton and the second in that location were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by a national body and music fans who buy "shares" in the venues.