Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 honor cash to the MVT, which works to protect the Britain's grassroots music venues.
He was presented with the award on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was named the best record of the last 12 months.
Fender has decided to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, top acts including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped venues that were facing imminent closure due to challenges caused by flooding, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The idea that funds from concerts in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
He is among several artists to give his honor prize money to good deeds.
When they earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their record their work, lead singer Cocker stated that the group would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite split her award between a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed updated gear," the artist told outlets.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their act, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also winners that year they donated their award to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated artist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected another person's life."
Last week, the trust revealed it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
