Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the MVT, which operates to protect the UK's independent music venues.
The star was given the prize on October 16 as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
He has opted to give the cash to the trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the gigs I did around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 small stages across the UK.
The money supported spaces that were confronting possible closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.
Some locations were granted financial assistance in improving amenities and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The concept that money from shows in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to give his award winnings to good deeds.
When the band earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their record Different Class, lead singer the singer announced that the act would give their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite shared her bounty across several charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told a publication.
Two years ago, the band gave their prize money to the youth organization that developed their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Also winners that year they gave their prize to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the condition.
"The victory was quite enough," said vocalist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved several local spots in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in the city and the second in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "shares" in the properties.
