Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which operates to protect the Britain's grassroots music venues.
He was given the prize on 16 October as his new release the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 local spots across Britain.
The donation supported spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Other venues were granted funding support in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to contribute his award winnings to good deeds.
In the band earned the award in the mid-90s for their album the album, frontman Cocker declared that the band would contribute their cash to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, artist she shared her bounty across a few charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," the artist shared with a publication.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the local youth club that developed their act, in addition to other local music groups.
And winners that year the group gave their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was ample," said artist the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted another person's life."
Recently, the MVT announced it had rescued a couple of small stages in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the venues.
