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The star has donated the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the MVT, which operates to protect the Britain's grassroots music venues.

Fender was awarded the award on mid-October as his latest record his work was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.

Fender has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16% of the total UK scene.

Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits independent venues.

Fender also took part, generating over £100k on his live tour to help 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

These funds helped venues that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties caused by flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and gear that positively impacted artists and fans.

"The notion that revenue from shows in major spaces supports the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.

He is far from the only musician to contribute his honor prize money to good deeds.

In they earned the award in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, lead singer Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the charity War Child.

That year, musician Ms Dynamite shared her prize across a few charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.

In recent years, they donated their prize money to the local youth club that supported their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

Also winners that year the group contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the illness.

"Winning was sufficient," remarked vocalist the singer. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched the lives of others."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued several small stages in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The Joiners in the city and the other in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who acquire "shares" in the buildings.