Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 award cash to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's small music venues.
He was presented with the prize on mid-October as his new release the album was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots had in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.
He also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that helped performers and audiences.
"The concept that money from performances in big venues backs the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.
He is far from the only musician to contribute his award funds to charitable organizations.
In they won the prize in the year 1996 for their album the album, frontman the singer stated that the act would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her bounty across multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I donated a grand to the center, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," she shared with the media.
Previously, they donated their prize money to the community center that supported their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Also the 1994 recipients the group donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the disease.
"The victory was sufficient," remarked singer Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the trust announced it had protected several grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The first in that area and The Croft in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by the arts council and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the buildings.
