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The star has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the MVT, which functions to save the Britain's independent music venues.

He was presented with the award on October 16 as his third album People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.

Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.

"I would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.

Recently, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.

Fender also joined in, generating more than £100,000 on his recent tour to help 38 local spots across Britain.

The donation supported spaces that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.

Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in upgrading facilities and gear that helped artists and audiences.

"The notion that funds from shows in big venues backs the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.

Fender is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.

In Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their release the album, vocalist the singer stated that the group would contribute their winnings to the charity the charity.

During 2002, artist Ms Dynamite shared her award among a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"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 lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.

In recent years, they gave their funds to the local youth club that supported their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

And the 1994 recipients the group contributed their award to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was identified with the condition.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success impacted somebody else's life."

Recently, the trust revealed it had rescued a couple of local spots in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.

The Joiners in that area and The Croft in the city were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who buy "stakes" in the buildings.