Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.
He was presented with the prize on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function small stages had in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," said Sam Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, top acts including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits independent venues.
Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous small stages across Britain.
The donation assisted locations that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.
Other venues obtained funding support in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted musicians and audiences.
"The idea that funds from shows in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it begins for artists like me, is just logical," the star has said.
The musician is among several artists to give his award funds to charitable organizations.
When they earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their release their work, vocalist Cocker announced that the band would contribute their cash to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician the artist split her bounty among a few charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective gave their prize money to the youth organization that supported their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was quite enough," stated singer the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."
Recently, the MVT shared it had saved several local spots in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and The Croft in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "shares" in the properties.
