Sam Fender has handed over the full amount of his £25,000 honor prize money to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
The star was awarded the prize on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the top album of the past year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues had in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.
Sam Fender also took part, generating over £100k on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported spaces that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties caused by water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations obtained funding support in improving infrastructure and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and concertgoers.
"The idea that revenue from shows in major spaces helps the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his honor prize money to good deeds.
Back when the band received the award in the year 1996 for their record their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would contribute their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her award across multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," the artist told a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the youth organization that developed their band, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
Also the 1994 recipients the group contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"Winning was ample," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted another person's life."
Last week, the MVT revealed it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.
The first in the city and the second in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the venues.
