The artist contributes twenty-five thousand pounds cash award to grassroots music venues

The artist has donated the entirety of his £25k honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the Britain's grassroots music venues.

The star was given the prize on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the top album of the previous year.

Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role small stages played in his early career.

"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.

Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to support numerous small stages across the UK.

These funds assisted locations that were confronting possible closure due to issues arising from flooding, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Other venues obtained financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.

"The idea that money from shows in big venues supports the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.

The musician is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to charitable organizations.

Back when they won the award in 1996 for their record their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would contribute their prize money to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, artist Ms Dynamite divided her prize between a few organizations, including the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she explained to the media.

In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that supported their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success affected another person's life."

In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected two local spots in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.

The first in that area and The Croft in Bristol were purchased under the public acquisition program, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the properties.