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Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k award cash to the MVT, which functions to preserve the Britain's small concert spaces.

Fender was awarded the award on mid-October as his new release his work was named the outstanding release of the past year.

The musician has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.

"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I did around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."

Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.

Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.

Sam Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across the UK.

The money assisted locations that were facing potential shutdown due to difficulties caused by floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.

Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and audiences.

"The idea that money from shows in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.

The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize funds to worthy causes.

When they earned the award in the mid-90s for their record the album, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would contribute their prize money to the organization the charity.

That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty across several charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.

Previously, they gave their funds to the youth organization that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.

Additionally 1994 winners they donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the disease.

"Winning was quite enough," stated singer the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted another person's life."

In the past week, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.

The first in the city and the second in the city were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "shares" in the venues.