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Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k honor winnings to the MVT, which works to preserve the UK's grassroots concert spaces.

Fender was given the prize on mid-October as his new release his work was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.

Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues had in his beginning days.

"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, top acts including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.

Fender also took part, generating over £100k on his live tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.

The money assisted spaces that were facing possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues were granted financial assistance in improving facilities and technical equipment that helped musicians and concertgoers.

"The concept that revenue from concerts in large arenas supports the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.

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

In the band earned the award in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist Cocker announced that the group would contribute their prize money to the non-profit the charity.

In 2002, artist she shared her award across a few organizations, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist told the media.

In recent years, they gave their winnings to the youth organization that developed their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

And winners that year M People donated their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.

"Winning was ample," said singer Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the trust announced it had saved two local spots in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.

One venue in the city and the second in the city were acquired under the community ownership program, which is supported by a national body and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.