Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small concert spaces.
He was awarded the prize on October 16 as his latest record the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the crucial part local spots had in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked the artist. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.
Recently, top acts including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.
Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds supported spaces that were facing possible closure due to difficulties arising from floods, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted funding support in upgrading amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that funds from concerts in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to give his award funds to worthy causes.
In Pulp earned the prize in 1996 for their release the album, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would give their prize money to the non-profit the charity.
In 2002, artist the artist shared her bounty among multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," the artist shared with the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective gave their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their act, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally 1994 winners M People gave their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"The victory was ample," remarked singer the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
Recently, the trust revealed it had rescued several small stages in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and The Croft in that location were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by a national body and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the properties.
