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Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's independent music venues.

The star was presented with the cheque on mid-October as his new release his work was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.

He has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"I personally would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are struggling."

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

Recently, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help numerous small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The donation assisted spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges caused by floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.

Other venues were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and gear that helped artists and fans.

"The notion that revenue from shows in big venues backs the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.

Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to good deeds.

In they received the prize in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist Cocker declared that the act would give their winnings to the charity War Child.

During 2002, musician she split her bounty among a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.

Previously, they gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, alongside other independent music bodies.

And winners that year the group donated their winnings to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.

"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated singer Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning touched the lives of others."

In the past week, the trust shared it had protected two small stages in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.

The first in that area and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.