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The star has donated the entirety of his £25k honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.

Fender was presented with the award on October 16 as his latest record his work was chosen as the top album of the past year.

The musician has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.

Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits independent venues.

Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across the UK.

These funds supported spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to difficulties arising from flooding, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that helped artists and audiences.

"The notion that money from shows in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," the star has said.

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

In they earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would contribute their winnings to the non-profit the charity.

In 2002, rapper and singer she split her bounty among a few charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed updated gear," the artist explained to a publication.

Two years ago, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that supported their band, alongside other independent music bodies.

Additionally winners that year M People donated their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"The victory was sufficient," said artist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued several local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The first in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the buildings.