Sam Fender has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
He was given the award on mid-October as his third album People Watching was named the top album of the previous year.
The musician has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role small stages played in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to help 38 grassroots venues across Britain.
These funds assisted venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues caused by floods, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from performances in major spaces helps the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.
When Pulp received the trophy in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the act would give their winnings to the charity the charity.
That year, rapper and singer the artist split her award between several organizations, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
Previously, the band donated their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners the group contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
Recently, the trust announced it had saved two small stages in the South East, by transferring them to local control.
One venue in Southampton and the second in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who acquire "shares" in the properties.
