Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor prize money to the trust for venues, which works to protect the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
Fender was given the prize on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has chosen to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the area, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 small stages across Britain.
These funds supported locations that were facing possible closure due to challenges caused by water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and fans.
"The notion that money from shows in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to give his award prize money to worthy causes.
In Pulp won the trophy in 1996 for their release their work, frontman the singer stated that the group would contribute their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite split her bounty across a few organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I gave a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," she shared with a publication.
In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the youth organization that supported their band, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally winners that year M People gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was sufficient," remarked artist Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our success touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the MVT shared it had saved several local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
The first in the city and the other in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by a national body and enthusiasts who buy "ownership units" in the venues.
