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The star has handed over the complete sum of his £25k award cash to the trust for venues, which operates to save the UK's grassroots live music spots.

Fender was given the award on October 16 as his third album his work was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.

Fender has opted to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.

"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.

Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight small stages across Britain.

These funds assisted spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to issues arising from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.

Some locations were granted monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and gear that positively impacted musicians and audiences.

"The concept that funds from shows in big venues backs the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has said.

The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.

When the band won the award in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would donate their prize money to the organization the charity.

In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite divided her prize among multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed updated gear," she told a publication.

Two years ago, they gave their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their band, as well as other independent music bodies.

And winners that year M People donated their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the condition.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success affected the lives of others."

Recently, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of small stages in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.

The first in the city and the other in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.