Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k award winnings to the trust for venues, which operates to save the UK's grassroots live music spots.
The star was presented with the cheque on October 16 as his third album his work was chosen as the top album of the past year.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.
He also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to help numerous local spots across the UK.
The money helped venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in improving facilities and gear that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues supports the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to contribute his honor funds to worthy causes.
In Pulp received the award in the year 1996 for their release the album, lead singer Cocker declared that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her bounty among multiple good causes, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I gave a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," she explained to a publication.
Previously, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the youth organization that developed their group, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year the group gave their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"The victory was ample," said vocalist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning affected the lives of others."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and the second in the city were purchased under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.
