Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
The star was given the award on 16 October as his third album his work was chosen as the best record of the past year.
He has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help thirty-eight local spots across the UK.
These funds supported spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties arising from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues were granted funding support in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues supports the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to contribute his honor prize money to worthy causes.
When Pulp received the prize in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their cash to the non-profit the charity.
In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite split her award among multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required updated gear," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
Two years ago, they donated their funds to the youth organization that developed their act, in addition to other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients M People donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Winning was ample," said vocalist the singer. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had protected two grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into local control.
The first in the city and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
