Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's independent music venues.
He was presented with the prize on 16 October as his latest record the album was named the top album of the previous year.
The musician has chosen to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues played in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
The money helped spaces that were confronting possible closure due to issues stemming from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Some locations obtained monetary aid in modernizing amenities and gear that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from concerts in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
The musician is far from the only musician to give his honor funds to worthy causes.
Back when Pulp received the trophy in the year 1996 for their release their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would contribute their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her bounty between several good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I gave a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, alongside other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients the group donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist the singer. "The money was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued two local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in the city and the second in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition program, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.
