Sam Fender has donated the full amount of his £25,000 award prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small live music spots.
The star was presented with the prize on October 16 as his latest record his work was chosen as the top album of the previous year.
Fender has decided to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues had in his early career.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the region, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped locations that were confronting imminent closure due to issues caused by water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in upgrading amenities and gear that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from concerts in major spaces supports the local stages, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," the star has stated.
He is not the first artist to give his honor winnings to worthy causes.
In the band won the prize in the mid-90s for their album their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would give their prize money to the organization War Child.
In 2002, artist she divided her award among a few charities, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
Previously, the band gave their funds to the youth organization that developed their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group gave their winnings to a MS organization after a friend was found to have the illness.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked artist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched another person's life."
Last week, the MVT revealed it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by placing them under local control.
The Joiners in the city and the second in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
