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Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.

Fender was awarded the award on October 16 as his new release the album was declared the outstanding release of the last 12 months.

Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the region, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," said the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports local stages.

Sam Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his live tour to help thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

These funds supported venues that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges arising from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Some locations obtained funding support in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and audiences.

"The idea that money from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has stated.

The musician is far from the only musician to give his honor funds to good deeds.

Back when the band received the award in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would donate their cash to the non-profit the charity.

In 2002, musician the artist divided her award between several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," the artist explained to outlets.

In recent years, they gave their winnings to the community center that nurtured their group, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

And winners that year they donated their prize to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the condition.

"The victory was quite enough," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the honor. So our success affected somebody else's life."

Recently, the trust shared it had saved two grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.

The first in Southampton and the other in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.