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Sam Fender has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which works to save the UK's small concert spaces.

He was given the prize on October 16 as his latest record his work was named the top album of the previous year.

Fender has opted to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots played in his initial steps.

"I wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.

Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to support numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money supported venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.

Other venues were granted funding support in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that helped performers and concertgoers.

"The notion that revenue from shows in big venues helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.

Fender is not the first artist to give his award funds to worthy causes.

In the band earned the trophy in 1996 for their release their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would give their winnings to the charity War Child.

During 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her award among several organizations, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," the artist shared with a publication.

In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.

And 1994 winners M People contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the condition.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated vocalist the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success touched somebody else's life."

In the past week, the trust revealed it had rescued a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "shares" in the buildings.