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Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the UK's grassroots music venues.

He was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record his work was named the top album of the previous year.

The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I did around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its attempts to support the industry, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.

He also took part, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to help numerous local spots across Britain.

The money supported locations that were facing imminent closure due to issues arising from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.

Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted musicians and audiences.

"The concept that revenue from performances in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.

Fender is not the first artist to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to worthy causes.

When Pulp won the award in the year 1996 for their album their work, vocalist the singer announced that the band would contribute their cash to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, musician she shared her award between a few charities, including the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I gave a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required updated gear," she explained to the media.

In recent years, they donated their prize money to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

Also the 1994 recipients M People contributed their prize to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," said vocalist Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched another person's life."

In the past week, the MVT revealed it had saved two grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to local control.

One venue in that area and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "shares" in the buildings.