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Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the Britain's independent concert spaces.

He was awarded the prize on October 16 as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.

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

"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the region, and beyond, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These locations are renowned, but they are struggling."

Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.

Fender also took part, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous small stages across Britain.

These funds helped locations that were facing imminent closure due to issues caused by floods, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.

Some locations obtained financial assistance in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.

"The concept that funds from shows in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.

Fender is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.

Back when they earned the award in the year 1996 for their release the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, musician the artist split her bounty across several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"Additionally, I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," the artist explained to the media.

Two years ago, they contributed their funds to the community center that supported their group, alongside other local music groups.

Additionally the 1994 recipients M People contributed their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the disease.

"The victory was quite enough," stated singer Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning affected somebody else's life."

Last week, the MVT revealed it had saved a couple of small stages in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.

The first in the city and The Croft in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "ownership units" in the properties.