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Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the UK's grassroots music venues.

He was awarded the cheque on mid-October as his new release the album was chosen as the best record of the previous year.

Fender has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.

Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also joined in, generating over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across Britain.

These funds supported spaces that were confronting possible closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Some locations received funding support in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and fans.

"The notion that funds from performances in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.

Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor winnings to charitable organizations.

When the band won the prize in 1996 for their record the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would donate their prize money to the non-profit the charity.

That year, artist she split her bounty across several organizations, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I donated a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," she shared with outlets.

In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their act, alongside other independent music bodies.

And the 1994 recipients M People contributed their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"Winning was quite enough," said singer Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success affected another person's life."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected several grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.

The Joiners in the city and The Croft in the city were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the venues.