Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the Britain's small concert spaces.
He was presented with the prize on mid-October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation assisted venues that were confronting possible closure due to challenges arising from floods, fires and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues received monetary aid in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from performances in big venues supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.
He is among several artists to give his honor funds to good deeds.
When Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their record their work, lead singer Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the organization War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite divided her prize among multiple organizations, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also contributed a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required updated gear," Ms Dynamite explained to outlets.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the community center that supported their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Also winners that year they donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," said artist Small. "The money was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our success affected the lives of others."
Recently, the trust shared it had saved several grassroots venues in south-east England, by bringing them into public stewardship.
One venue in Southampton and the second in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
