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The artist has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the trust for venues, which functions to save the UK's grassroots concert spaces.

The star was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his third album his work was named the top album of the previous year.

He has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages played in his early career.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which benefits smaller concert halls.

He also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

These funds supported spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues were granted financial assistance in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.

"The concept that funds from performances in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it all starts for performers like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.

He is among several artists to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.

In the band earned the prize in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, lead singer the singer announced that the band would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.

That year, artist Ms Dynamite shared her prize across a few charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," she explained to a publication.

In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the local youth club that developed their act, alongside other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients they donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the disease.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated singer Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected another person's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued a couple of small stages in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.

One venue in the city and the other in that location were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the buildings.