Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25k honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the UK's independent concert spaces.
The star was given the cheque on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots played in his early career.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 16% of the total UK scene.
Recently, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.
The money supported spaces that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from shows in major spaces supports the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," the star has said.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his award funds to charitable organizations.
In they earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their album the album, vocalist the singer declared that the act would give their prize money to the charity War Child.
In 2002, artist the artist split her bounty between several charities, including the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed updated gear," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.
In recent years, they contributed their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners they gave their prize to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked artist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the trust announced it had rescued two local spots in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.
The first in the city and the other in Bristol were bought under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the venues.
