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The artist has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the Britain's small live music spots.

Fender was given the cheque on mid-October as his third album his work was declared the best record of the last 12 months.

He has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his early career.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the total UK scene.

Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.

He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help numerous small stages across Britain.

These funds assisted venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties caused by water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.

"The idea that funds from concerts in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," the star has commented.

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

Back when the band won the trophy in the mid-90s for their album their work, vocalist the singer declared that the band would donate their winnings to the charity the charity.

During 2002, musician the artist split her prize among multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to a publication.

Previously, the band donated their prize money to the community center that developed their group, in addition to other local music groups.

Additionally the 1994 recipients they gave their winnings to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the illness.

"Receiving the award was ample," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected the lives of others."

Last week, the MVT shared it had protected two grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The first in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the properties.