Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25k honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the UK's independent concert spaces.
He was presented with the award on 16 October as his third album the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the shows I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, top acts like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across the UK.
The donation supported locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to challenges caused by flooding, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and neighbor objections.
Some locations received financial assistance in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and fans.
"The idea that money from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
He is among several artists to contribute his honor funds to charitable organizations.
In Pulp earned the prize in 1996 for their record Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the group would donate their prize money to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite divided her award among several good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I gave a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," the artist shared with the media.
Previously, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that supported their group, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And winners that year M People donated their winnings to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was ample," stated singer Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT shared it had protected several local spots in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
One venue in the city and the second in that location were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who purchase "shares" in the properties.
