Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which works to protect the Britain's independent music venues.
He was presented with the prize on mid-October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
He has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part small stages had in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was beginning," remarked the artist. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to support 38 local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds supported locations that were facing imminent closure due to challenges arising from floods, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in improving infrastructure and gear that helped artists and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from performances in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
He is far from the only musician to donate his honor prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp won the trophy in the year 1996 for their release the album, vocalist Cocker stated that the group would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician she split her prize across several organizations, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed updated gear," the artist shared with a publication.
In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the community center that developed their act, alongside other local music groups.
Also the 1994 recipients they gave their prize to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was ample," stated singer the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory affected the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT revealed it had rescued two grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in the city and the other in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the venues.
