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Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the trust for venues, which works to save the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.

Fender was presented with the award on 16 October as his third album his work was declared the top album of the last 12 months.

The musician has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role small stages played in his beginning days.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.

Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.

These funds supported venues that were facing possible closure due to difficulties arising from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Some locations obtained financial assistance in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and audiences.

"The idea that funds from concerts in big venues helps the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.

He is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.

When the band earned the award in the year 1996 for their release the album, lead singer Cocker declared that the group would donate their cash to the charity the charity.

In 2002, rapper and singer she divided her award among several organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite explained to outlets.

In recent years, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other local music groups.

Also 1994 winners they gave their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the disease.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," said singer the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success affected the lives of others."

Recently, the MVT revealed it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The first in the city and the other in the city were acquired under the community ownership program, which is funded by a national body and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the venues.