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Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the Britain's grassroots live music spots.

The star was presented with the prize on October 16 as his latest record his work was declared 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 small stages played in his early career.

"I would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the region, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.

Fender also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

These funds supported venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Additional spaces were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.

"The idea that revenue from concerts in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.

He is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.

When they received the prize in the year 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the band would give their prize money to the organization War Child.

That year, musician she divided her award between multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told a publication.

Previously, they gave their winnings to the local youth club that developed their act, alongside other independent music bodies.

Also 1994 winners M People contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the disease.

"Receiving the award was ample," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the MVT announced it had rescued several grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The first in the city and the second in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by the arts council and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.