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The star has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which operates to save the UK's independent music venues.

Fender was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the top album of the previous year.

He has opted to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the North East, and beyond, 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 spaces have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.

Sam Fender also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across the UK.

The money helped venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges caused by floods, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.

Other venues obtained financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and fans.

"The notion that revenue from shows in large arenas supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.

The musician is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.

When Pulp earned the prize in 1996 for their album their work, frontman the singer declared that the group would give their cash to the charity War Child.

That year, musician the artist divided her prize between multiple good causes, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.

Previously, the band gave their winnings to the community center that developed their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the disease.

"The victory was ample," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued two grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the second in that location were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the venues.