Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k honor winnings to the MVT, which works to preserve the Britain's independent concert spaces.
The star was given the award on October 16 as his latest record the album was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, top acts including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds assisted spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Some locations received funding support in improving infrastructure and gear that helped musicians and audiences.
"The idea that funds from performances in big venues helps the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is among several artists to give his honor winnings to worthy causes.
In Pulp won the prize in the mid-90s for their album their work, frontman Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would give their prize money to the organization the charity.
That year, artist the artist shared her award among several good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told a publication.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the youth organization that supported their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
And the 1994 recipients the group gave their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was ample," said vocalist the singer. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had saved several small stages in that region, by placing them under community ownership.
One venue in Southampton and the other in Bristol were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
