Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which functions to save the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
He was awarded the cheque on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
He has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages had in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also participated, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money assisted spaces that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Some locations received financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in major spaces helps the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his honor prize money to charitable organizations.
When they received the award in 1996 for their release the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would give their cash to the organization the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her prize between a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also donated a £1,000 to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she explained to a publication.
Two years ago, the band donated their winnings to the community center that nurtured their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year the group gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked singer the singer. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our success impacted somebody else's life."
Recently, the MVT shared it had protected two grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the venues.
