Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the MVT, which functions to protect the UK's grassroots music venues.
The star was given the cheque on mid-October as his third album his work was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.
He has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the vital role local spots played in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports local stages.
Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his live tour to support numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped venues that were facing possible closure due to issues arising from flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and sound issues.
Some locations were granted monetary aid in modernizing amenities and sound and lighting systems that helped musicians and fans.
"The notion that money from performances in big venues supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his award prize money to worthy causes.
When the band received the trophy in 1996 for their record their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would contribute their prize money to the organization the charity.
That year, rapper and singer she split her prize between a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also gave a grand to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.
Previously, the band gave their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their band, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally 1994 winners M People gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked singer Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory touched another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued several local spots in that region, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in that area and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the properties.
