The artist has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
He was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his new release the album was chosen as the best record of the past year.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – about one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
He also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help 38 local spots across Britain.
The donation helped venues that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from flooding, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.
Some locations obtained financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The notion that revenue from performances in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
He is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.
When they received the trophy in the year 1996 for their record the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.
In 2002, artist she split her prize between a few organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," the artist explained to the media.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients the group donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"The victory was sufficient," said artist the singer. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT revealed it had saved a couple of local spots in south-east England, by placing them under local control.
The first in that area and the other in that location were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
