Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the MVT, which functions to protect the Britain's independent music venues.
The star was presented with the award on 16 October as his third album the album was declared the best record of the previous year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved my current career if it weren't for all the performances I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.
The money supported locations that were facing imminent closure due to issues caused by water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his award prize money to charitable organizations.
In Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their record Different Class, frontman the singer announced that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
During 2002, rapper and singer she divided her award across multiple charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," she shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also the 1994 recipients they contributed their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under public stewardship.
The first in Southampton and The Croft in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "stakes" in the properties.
