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The artist has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the UK's independent live music spots.

Fender was presented with the prize on 16 October as his new release the album was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.

The musician has decided to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.

Sam Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist numerous local spots across Britain.

These funds helped locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues arising from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.

"The notion that revenue from concerts in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

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

In they earned the prize in 1996 for their record the album, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their cash to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, rapper and singer the artist divided her award across a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I gave a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," she told a publication.

In recent years, the band donated their funds to the local youth club that supported their band, alongside other local music groups.

Additionally winners that year M People gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the disease.

"The victory was sufficient," remarked vocalist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected several small stages in south-east England, by placing them under local control.

One venue in that area and The Croft in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the buildings.