Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to preserve the UK's grassroots concert spaces.
The star was given the award on mid-October as his new release the album was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the crucial part small stages had in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I did around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its attempts to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to support thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
The money assisted spaces that were facing possible closure due to challenges caused by flooding, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Some locations received monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in big venues helps the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.
Fender is among several artists to donate his honor winnings to worthy causes.
When the band earned the award in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist Cocker declared that the act would donate their winnings to the organization the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer she split her prize across a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed updated gear," she shared with a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also the 1994 recipients the group contributed their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was ample," remarked artist Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our success affected another person's life."
Recently, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in the city and the other in the city were purchased under the community ownership program, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.
