Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.
The star was given the prize on October 16 as his third album the album was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to assist numerous local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds assisted spaces that were facing imminent closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fires and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained monetary aid in modernizing facilities and gear that helped performers and audiences.
"The notion that revenue from concerts in big venues backs the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
He is not the first artist to give his award winnings to good deeds.
In Pulp won the award in the year 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the band would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she divided her bounty between a few good causes, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they required updated gear," she shared with outlets.
Two years ago, they gave their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Also winners that year M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," said singer Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected the lives of others."
In the past week, the trust shared it had saved a couple of small stages in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.
The first in the city and The Croft in that location were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the buildings.
