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The artist has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which functions to preserve the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.

He was presented with the award on 16 October as his new release the album was declared the top album of the past year.

He has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues played in his beginning days.

"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the total UK scene.

Recently, major artists such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.

Sam Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his live tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.

These funds supported locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.

Other venues received funding support in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.

"The notion that funds from shows in major spaces helps the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.

The musician is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.

Back when the band received the award in the year 1996 for their record their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would donate their prize money to the charity the charity.

During 2002, rapper and singer she split her prize across a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also donated a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," the artist explained to outlets.

In recent years, they gave their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their band, alongside other local music groups.

And winners that year they donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.

"The victory was quite enough," said singer the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued two small stages in that region, by transferring them to local control.

The Joiners in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by a national body and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.