Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k award prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the UK's small live music spots.
The star was given the prize on mid-October as his third album the album was named the best record of the previous year.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots had in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation assisted spaces that were facing potential shutdown due to issues caused by water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that helped artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that money from concerts in big venues helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his award funds to good deeds.
Back when the band received the trophy in 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist Cocker announced that the group would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, musician the artist shared her bounty among multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," she shared with a publication.
Two years ago, they contributed their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.
Additionally 1994 winners the group donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the illness.
"Winning was ample," stated vocalist the singer. "The money was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success impacted another person's life."
Last week, the trust revealed it had saved a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in the city and the other in that location were bought under the public acquisition program, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.