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The artist has given the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small live music spots.

The star was given the cheque on mid-October as his third album People Watching was named the top album of the previous year.

The musician has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots had in his beginning days.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," said the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.

Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The donation helped venues that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.

Other venues obtained monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.

"The notion that money from performances in big venues supports the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.

He is not the first artist to donate his honor winnings to good deeds.

When the band earned the prize in 1996 for their album their work, vocalist Cocker stated that the band would donate their cash to the charity War Child.

That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her award among multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she told a publication.

In recent years, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the local youth club that supported their group, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

Also the 1994 recipients they donated their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the disease.

"The victory was ample," stated vocalist the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the trust announced it had rescued a couple of local spots in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.

The first in that area and the second in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the venues.