Sam Fender has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's grassroots music venues.
He was given the award on mid-October as his third album his work was named the top album of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, top acts including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also took part, raising more than £100,000 on his live tour to support numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The money helped locations that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges caused by flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.
Other venues received funding support in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.
"The notion that revenue from shows in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
Fender is not the first artist to contribute his honor winnings to worthy causes.
In they won the award in the mid-90s for their release their work, lead singer Cocker declared that the act would give their cash to the organization War Child.
During 2002, musician the artist shared her bounty among multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I gave a grand to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she shared with the media.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the community center that nurtured their act, as well as other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was ample," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning touched the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT shared it had saved a couple of small stages in the South East, by bringing them into local control.
The first in the city and the other in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.
