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Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the UK's grassroots music venues.

The star was given the prize on 16 October as his third album the album was named the best record of the last 12 months.

He has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.

"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the region, and beyond, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.

In the last year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.

He also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money assisted locations that were facing possible closure due to difficulties stemming from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.

Some locations obtained monetary aid in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.

"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas backs the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.

The musician is not the first artist to donate his award prize money to worthy causes.

When they won the award in the mid-90s for their release the album, frontman the singer stated that the act would give their winnings to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, artist she split her prize between multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite told a publication.

Two years ago, the band donated their funds to the community center that supported their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients the group donated their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the disease.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated singer Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory touched another person's life."

In the past week, the MVT announced it had rescued several small stages in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.

The Joiners in the city and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition program, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.