Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the Britain's independent live music spots.
The star was awarded the prize on October 16 as his latest record the album was named the best record of the past year.
He has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, raising over £100k on his live tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
The donation assisted spaces that were confronting possible closure due to issues arising from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in improving facilities and gear that helped musicians and audiences.
"The idea that funds from shows in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.
The musician is not the first artist to give his award prize money to worthy causes.
In Pulp received the prize in the mid-90s for their record their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would give their cash to the non-profit the charity.
That year, artist she divided her bounty among several good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," the artist shared with the media.
Previously, they contributed their funds to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other local music groups.
And winners that year they contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," said vocalist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in that area and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by a national body and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the venues.
