Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his £25k honor winnings to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the Britain's small live music spots.
The star was awarded the cheque on October 16 as his third album the album was declared the best record of the past year.
The musician has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues had in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have ceased operations – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, top acts such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous small stages across the UK.
These funds supported locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues caused by flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and gear that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that revenue from concerts in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has stated.
Fender is among several artists to donate his honor winnings to worthy causes.
When Pulp won the trophy in the mid-90s for their album Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would give their winnings to the charity the charity.
During 2002, musician she shared her bounty between a few charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band contributed their funds to the local youth club that supported their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally winners that year M People contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the disease.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated singer the singer. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved two local spots in the South East, by placing them under local control.
The first in the city and the other in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
