Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
Fender was awarded the award on mid-October as his latest record his work was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part small stages played in his beginning days.
"I would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.
Fender also participated, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported spaces that were facing imminent closure due to issues stemming from water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.
Some locations received funding support in modernizing infrastructure and gear that positively impacted artists and fans.
"The idea that funds from concerts in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has said.
He is far from the only musician to donate his honor winnings to good deeds.
In they received the trophy in the year 1996 for their release the album, lead singer Cocker announced that the group would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
That year, musician she divided her bounty across several charities, including the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," she explained to outlets.
Previously, the band contributed their prize money to the local youth club that developed their act, as well as other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners M People donated their award to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the illness.
"The victory was sufficient," stated vocalist the singer. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory affected another person's life."
Recently, the trust announced it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into local control.
The first in Southampton and the other in Bristol were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the properties.
