Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small live music spots.
Fender was awarded the prize on mid-October as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots played in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.
He also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to support thirty-eight small stages across the UK.
The money helped locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Some locations were granted funding support in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from shows in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to contribute his award funds to charitable organizations.
When they earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their record their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would donate their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer she split her award among multiple organizations, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she explained to the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective gave their funds to the youth organization that supported their group, in addition to other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners they donated their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated singer Small. "The money was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Last week, the trust revealed it had saved two local spots in that region, by placing them under community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and The Croft in the city were bought under the community ownership program, which is supported by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
