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The star has donated the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the UK's grassroots music venues.

Fender was given the cheque on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.

He has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his initial steps.

"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.

In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.

Sam Fender also participated, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.

The money supported locations that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces received monetary aid in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and audiences.

"The concept that money from performances in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.

The musician is among several artists to give his award prize money to good deeds.

In they earned the trophy in 1996 for their album the album, lead singer Cocker declared that the act would contribute their winnings to the non-profit War Child.

In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her bounty between multiple charities, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," she explained to a publication.

In recent years, the band contributed their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their group, in addition to other local music groups.

Additionally winners that year the group donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the condition.

"The victory was ample," said artist Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning touched somebody else's life."

Recently, the MVT revealed it had saved two small stages in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.

The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "ownership units" in the venues.