Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the MVT, which operates to protect the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was awarded the prize on 16 October as his third album the album was declared the best record of the previous year.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues had in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported venues that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations received financial assistance in improving facilities and gear that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The concept that money from performances in large arenas backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to give his honor winnings to worthy causes.
When the band earned the prize in the year 1996 for their record the album, frontman Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would give their winnings to the charity the charity.
In 2002, musician the artist shared her award between multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," she shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band contributed their prize money to the community center that developed their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners M People contributed their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated artist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected another person's life."
In the past week, the trust announced it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The first in that area and the second in the city were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "shares" in the buildings.
