Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25k award prize money to the MVT, which functions to preserve the UK's independent concert spaces.
The star was presented with the prize on mid-October as his new release the album was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots had in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I did around the region, and beyond, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation supported venues that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges arising from floods, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Some locations received financial assistance in improving amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and fans.
"The idea that revenue from shows in big venues helps the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to contribute his award prize money to worthy causes.
When they earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, frontman the singer announced that the group would give their prize money to the non-profit the charity.
That year, rapper and singer she divided her award across several charities, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.
In recent years, they gave their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year they gave their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," said singer Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success touched somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued several local spots in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.
One venue in the city and the other in the city were purchased under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by a national body and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the venues.
