Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25,000 award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
The star was presented with the prize on mid-October as his new release People Watching was declared the best record of the last 12 months.
He has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function local spots had in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to support numerous small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money assisted locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues caused by floods, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The notion that funds from concerts in large arenas backs the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.
Fender is far from the only musician to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.
When the band won the award in the mid-90s for their release their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would contribute their winnings to the charity the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her prize across multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told the media.
Previously, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients they contributed their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"The victory was ample," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted the lives of others."
Recently, the trust revealed it had saved several grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in that area and The Croft in that location were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "ownership units" in the venues.
