Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25k honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the Britain's independent music venues.
The star was presented with the prize on October 16 as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the best record of the past year.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his initial steps.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.
He also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across the UK.
The donation supported venues that were facing potential shutdown due to issues stemming from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, court cases and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that helped artists and fans.
"The notion that funds from concerts in large arenas backs the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.
The musician is among several artists to give his honor prize money to good deeds.
When the band received the award in the mid-90s for their record their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would give their winnings to the charity the charity.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty across several organizations, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," she shared with the media.
In recent years, the band donated their prize money to the youth organization that supported their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," remarked vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."
In the past week, the trust revealed it had rescued several grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in the city and the second in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
