Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25k honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
Fender was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record the album was chosen as the best record of the past year.
The musician has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues had in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the total UK scene.
In the last year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped venues that were facing imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations were granted funding support in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The notion that money from performances in major spaces helps the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to give his award winnings to charitable organizations.
In Pulp won the award in the year 1996 for their release their work, frontman the singer declared that the band would contribute their cash to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist she divided her prize among several charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told a publication.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally 1994 winners they contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the disease.
"The victory was sufficient," remarked singer the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT announced it had saved a couple of local spots in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.
One venue in that area and the other in that location were bought under the public acquisition program, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.
