The artist has handed over the complete sum of his £25k honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
He was given the prize on mid-October as his latest record his work was declared the best record of the last 12 months.
He has decided to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots had in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.
He also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The money assisted venues that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties arising from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in improving amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that revenue from performances in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
The musician is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.
Back when Pulp earned the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, vocalist the singer stated that the act would donate their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, musician she shared her prize among a few charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," she told the media.
Previously, Ezra Collective gave their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their act, as well as other local music groups.
Also winners that year the group gave their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated artist Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our winning affected somebody else's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into public stewardship.
One venue in that area and The Croft in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who buy "shares" in the buildings.
