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The artist has donated the entirety of his £25,000 award cash to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the UK's independent music venues.

The star was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record his work was named the best record of the last 12 months.

Fender has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.

"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.

Fender also participated, generating more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous small stages across the UK.

The donation supported spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Additional spaces received monetary aid in modernizing facilities and gear that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.

"The idea that revenue from shows in large arenas supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," the star has commented.

He is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.

Back when the band won the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, frontman the singer stated that the act would donate their cash to the organization War Child.

That year, rapper and singer the artist shared her award among multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I donated a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," the artist told a publication.

In recent years, they donated their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

And the 1994 recipients M People donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated artist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the MVT announced it had saved a couple of small stages in that region, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The Joiners in the city and The Croft in that location were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.