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The star has given the entirety of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.

The star was awarded the award on 16 October as his third album People Watching was declared the best record of the previous year.

Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.

Over the past year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.

Fender also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to support 38 local spots across the UK.

The donation supported venues that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges caused by water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Other venues were granted funding support in modernizing amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and fans.

"The concept that funds from performances in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.

He is far from the only musician to contribute his award prize money to good deeds.

Back when they won the award in the year 1996 for their album their work, vocalist Cocker announced that the act would donate their prize money to the non-profit War Child.

That year, musician the artist split her prize between a few charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I contributed a grand to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.

Two years ago, they gave their prize money to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other local music groups.

And winners that year the group donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was found to have the condition.

"Winning was ample," said vocalist Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success affected another person's life."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected two grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.

One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "shares" in the properties.