Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the MVT, which works to protect the UK's grassroots music venues.
The star was presented with the prize on 16 October as his new release his work was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money helped locations that were confronting imminent closure due to issues stemming from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces were granted financial assistance in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped musicians and fans.
"The concept that money from concerts in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his honor funds to charitable organizations.
In they won the prize in 1996 for their album their work, lead singer the singer declared that the act would donate their cash to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her bounty across multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I gave a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked updated gear," the artist explained to outlets.
Previously, Ezra Collective gave their prize money to the local youth club that supported their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they donated their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"The victory was quite enough," said artist Small. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success affected another person's life."
Recently, the trust revealed it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in that location were purchased under the public acquisition program, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the properties.
