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The star has given the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which functions to preserve the Britain's small music venues.

He was given the award on mid-October as his new release People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.

The musician has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the vital role local spots had in his initial steps.

"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – about one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, top acts including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.

He also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation assisted locations that were facing imminent closure due to issues arising from water damage, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Some locations were granted financial assistance in upgrading amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and fans.

"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas helps the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," the star has stated.

Fender is among several artists to contribute his award prize money to good deeds.

When the band won the award in the mid-90s for their album the album, frontman Cocker announced that the act would give their winnings to the charity the charity.

During 2002, musician the artist split her bounty across several charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist explained to the media.

Previously, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the youth organization that supported their band, alongside other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients the group gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the disease.

"Winning was quite enough," stated artist the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the trust revealed it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.

One venue in the city and the second in the city were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.