Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25,000 award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the UK's small live music spots.
He was given the prize on mid-October as his latest record his work was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these venues have ceased operations – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
These funds supported spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to challenges arising from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces were granted funding support in improving facilities and gear that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues helps the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has commented.
The musician is far from the only musician to donate his honor winnings to worthy causes.
Back when they won the trophy in the mid-90s for their release their work, frontman Cocker declared that the band would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician she divided her award across multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," she told the media.
In recent years, they gave their prize money to the community center that developed their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year the group donated their award to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the condition.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Last week, the trust announced it had rescued two small stages in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.
The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
