Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which works to save the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
The star was given the award on 16 October as his third album his work was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the performances I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also joined in, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation supported spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues caused by water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues received monetary aid in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from performances in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.
The musician is far from the only musician to donate his award prize money to worthy causes.
When Pulp won the prize in the year 1996 for their record the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would give their cash to the organization War Child.
That year, artist she split her award across a few good causes, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required updated gear," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band contributed their funds to the community center that developed their group, as well as other local music groups.
And winners that year they donated their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was diagnosed the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," stated artist Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory affected the lives of others."
Last week, the trust shared it had rescued several local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The first in the city and the second in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
