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Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.

He was presented with the award on 16 October as his third album the album was chosen as the top album of the previous year.

Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots had in his early career.

"I couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

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

Recently, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.

Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his live tour to help numerous local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money supported spaces that were facing potential shutdown due to issues stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, conflicts and sound issues.

Some locations were granted financial assistance in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and audiences.

"The notion that funds from concerts in large arenas supports 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 contribute his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.

When Pulp won the award in 1996 for their release their work, vocalist Cocker stated that the band would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.

In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her prize between several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I donated a grand to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," the artist told outlets.

Previously, the band gave their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

Additionally winners that year M People donated their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the condition.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked singer Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted another person's life."

Last week, the MVT revealed it had saved several small stages in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the other in that location were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.