Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25k honor winnings to the MVT, which operates to save the UK's small concert spaces.
Fender was presented with the award on mid-October as his new release his work was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots played in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the region, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also participated, generating over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation supported locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The idea that funds from concerts in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to give his award prize money to worthy causes.
In Pulp received the trophy in the year 1996 for their record the album, frontman the singer stated that the band would donate their winnings to the organization War Child.
In 2002, artist the artist divided her bounty among multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told the media.
In recent years, they donated their winnings to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also 1994 winners M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was ample," remarked singer Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory touched another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected two grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
One venue in that area and The Croft in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by a national body and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
