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Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.

The star was given the prize on mid-October as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.

He has decided to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his early career.

"I couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the gigs I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16% of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, major artists like Pulp, 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 prices, which goes to help local stages.

Sam Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous small stages across the UK.

These funds supported spaces that were facing imminent closure due to issues arising from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.

Other venues received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and audiences.

"The idea that funds from concerts in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.

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

In the band won the award in 1996 for their record their work, frontman the singer stated that the band would give their winnings to the organization the charity.

That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty across several organizations, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," she told outlets.

In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

Additionally the 1994 recipients M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.

"The victory was ample," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory touched the lives of others."

Last week, the MVT announced it had protected several local spots in south-east England, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The first in Southampton and the second in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the buildings.