Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
He was awarded the award on mid-October as his latest record his work was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has decided to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, raising over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 local spots across Britain.
These funds helped locations that were facing potential shutdown due to issues caused by water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in upgrading amenities and gear that helped artists and fans.
"The idea that funds from performances in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his honor funds to charitable organizations.
When Pulp earned the prize in 1996 for their record their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.
In 2002, artist she split her bounty among multiple good causes, including the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," the artist told a publication.
Previously, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the community center that supported their group, as well as other local music groups.
And winners that year M People contributed their award to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was identified with the condition.
"Winning was ample," remarked singer the singer. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning affected the lives of others."
Recently, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of local spots in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "shares" in the properties.
