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Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the Britain's grassroots live music spots.

He was presented with the award on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.

The musician has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots played in his initial steps.

"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits independent venues.

He also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to help numerous local spots across Britain.

The donation assisted venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.

Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and gear that helped musicians and concertgoers.

"The idea that funds from shows in big venues supports the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.

The musician is far from the only musician to donate his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.

When they won the prize in the year 1996 for their album their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would contribute their cash to the organization the charity.

In 2002, artist the artist split her prize across multiple organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," she shared with the media.

In recent years, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their group, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

Additionally the 1994 recipients M People gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was identified with the condition.

"Winning was ample," remarked vocalist Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning touched the lives of others."

Recently, the MVT announced it had protected a couple of small stages in south-east England, by transferring them to local control.

One venue in the city and The Croft in that location were bought under the community ownership program, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the buildings.