Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25,000 honor cash to the MVT, which functions to save the United Kingdom's small music venues.
He was presented with the prize on 16 October as his latest record the album was chosen as the top album of the past year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function local spots played in his beginning days.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
In the last year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
These funds helped locations that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received funding support in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from shows in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to give his honor winnings to good deeds.
Back when Pulp earned the award in 1996 for their release the album, frontman the singer declared that the act would contribute their cash to the charity the charity.
That year, musician the artist divided her award across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," she shared with outlets.
In recent years, they gave their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
And the 1994 recipients M People donated their award to a charity for MS after a friend was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked artist the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The first in Southampton and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.
