Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25,000 award winnings to the MVT, which operates to preserve the UK's small live music spots.
The star was presented with the prize on mid-October as his latest record his work was named the top album of the past year.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in appreciation of the vital role local spots had in his beginning days.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also participated, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across Britain.
The money supported locations that were facing imminent closure due to challenges caused by floods, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from performances in big venues backs the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.
Back when Pulp earned the prize in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist she split her prize between a few organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," the artist told a publication.
In recent years, they gave their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally the 1994 recipients the group donated their winnings to a MS organization after a acquaintance was diagnosed the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked artist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our success impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued several small stages in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The first in Southampton and the second in that location were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "shares" in the buildings.
