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Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award winnings to the trust for venues, which works to protect the UK's small concert spaces.

He was awarded the prize on 16 October as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the past year.

The musician has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part small stages played in his initial steps.

"I personally would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the total UK scene.

In the last year, top acts including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.

Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous local spots across the UK.

The donation supported locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.

Additional spaces received monetary aid in improving amenities and gear that positively impacted performers and audiences.

"The concept that money from concerts in big venues helps the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.

Fender is among several artists to donate his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.

In they won the award in the mid-90s for their record the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would contribute their prize money to the charity War Child.

In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her bounty across a few charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.

"I also gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," the artist told a publication.

Two years ago, they gave their winnings to the youth organization that developed their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

And 1994 winners M People contributed their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the condition.

"The victory was quite enough," said artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected the lives of others."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected a couple of small stages in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.

The Joiners in the city and the other in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition program, which is supported by the arts council and enthusiasts who acquire "shares" in the venues.