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Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the MVT, which operates to preserve the Britain's independent live music spots.

The star was given the prize on mid-October as his new release the album was named the best record of the last 12 months.

The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots played in his early career.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, top acts including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.

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

The donation assisted venues that were facing imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.

Other venues received monetary aid in modernizing amenities and gear that helped musicians and concertgoers.

"The concept that funds from concerts in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," the star has said.

Fender is far from the only musician to give his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.

Back when Pulp won the trophy in 1996 for their record Different Class, lead singer Cocker announced that the band would donate their winnings to the organization the charity.

In 2002, artist the artist shared her award across several charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I gave a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.

In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the youth organization that developed their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

And winners that year the group contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.

"Winning was quite enough," said artist Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our success affected the lives of others."

In the past week, the MVT announced it had protected a couple of small stages in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.

The first in the city and the second in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by a national body and music fans who buy "shares" in the buildings.