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The artist has donated the entirety of his £25k honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.

The star was presented with the award on mid-October as his third album his work was chosen as the best record of the previous year.

Fender has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues had in his early career.

"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," remarked Sam Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are struggling."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, well-known musicians such as the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.

Sam Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The donation supported spaces that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges arising from flooding, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and audiences.

"The concept that funds from concerts in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.

Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his award prize money to charitable organizations.

When the band received the award in 1996 for their album the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite split her award across a few charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"Additionally, I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," she shared with a publication.

Previously, the band contributed their prize money to the youth organization that developed their act, alongside other local music groups.

And 1994 winners the group donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the illness.

"The victory was sufficient," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected somebody else's life."

In the past week, the MVT revealed it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.

The first in that area and the other in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the buildings.