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Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the Britain's independent music venues.

Fender was given the prize on mid-October as his third album the album was chosen as the top album of the previous year.

The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his beginning days.

"I would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, well-known musicians like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports local stages.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The donation supported spaces that were facing possible closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and noise complaints.

Some locations obtained monetary aid in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that helped musicians and audiences.

"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces backs the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.

He is among several artists to give his award winnings to charitable organizations.

When the band earned the trophy in 1996 for their album Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would give their winnings to the organization War Child.

That year, musician the artist split her award among several charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I gave a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," she shared with a publication.

Previously, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that supported their act, alongside other local music groups.

Also 1994 winners M People donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the disease.

"Winning was quite enough," said singer the singer. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success touched another person's life."

Last week, the trust shared it had saved two local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the other in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by a national body and enthusiasts who purchase "shares" in the buildings.