Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k honor cash to the MVT, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was given the cheque on 16 October as his third album the album was named the outstanding release of the past year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to support thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
The donation supported venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues caused by floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received funding support in modernizing amenities and gear that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has said.
Fender is among several artists to give his honor prize money to charitable organizations.
In Pulp received the prize in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, vocalist the singer announced that the act would give their prize money to the charity War Child.
That year, musician Ms Dynamite divided her award between a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked new equipment," the artist shared with outlets.
Two years ago, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that supported their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners they contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.
"The victory was ample," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued several grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "shares" in the properties.
