Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the MVT, which works to preserve the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
He was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his new release People Watching was named the best record of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the region, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16% 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 backed the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 grassroots venues across Britain.
The money assisted locations that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties arising from flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Other venues received financial assistance in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that helped musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from shows in major spaces backs the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.
Back when they won the award in the mid-90s for their release the album, lead singer Cocker stated that the group would donate their prize money to the charity War Child.
That year, musician the artist divided her bounty between multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
Previously, the band donated their winnings to the local youth club that developed their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also 1994 winners the group contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the disease.
"The victory was ample," said singer the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched the lives of others."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected several local spots in south-east England, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and The Croft in Bristol were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who purchase "shares" in the venues.
