Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the MVT, which works to protect the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
Fender was presented with the award on 16 October as his third album People Watching was named the top album of the past year.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the gigs I played around the area, and further afield, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also participated, generating more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous local spots across Britain.
The donation assisted locations that were facing imminent closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Other venues were granted monetary aid in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that helped musicians and concertgoers.
"The idea that funds from performances in large arenas backs the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has said.
The musician is among several artists to donate his honor prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when they won the prize in 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her award among several charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they required updated gear," she explained to a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the local youth club that supported their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally winners that year they contributed their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the trust announced it had saved a couple of small stages in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in the city and The Croft in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the properties.
