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Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the Britain's grassroots music venues.

The star was given the award on mid-October as his third album People Watching was named the best record of the last 12 months.

He has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked the artist. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.

These funds helped spaces that were facing possible closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.

Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped artists and concertgoers.

"The notion that money from performances in large arenas helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.

The musician is among several artists to give his award prize money to worthy causes.

Back when Pulp won the prize in the year 1996 for their album their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would give their cash to the charity War Child.

During 2002, rapper and singer she divided her bounty between a few organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," the artist shared with a publication.

In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the community center that developed their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

Additionally 1994 winners the group donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"Winning was quite enough," said artist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted the lives of others."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected several small stages in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.

The Joiners in Southampton and the other in that location were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is funded by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the buildings.