Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25k honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the UK's small concert spaces.
He was presented with the prize on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was named the top album of the previous year.
Fender has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his early career.
"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.
He also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation assisted spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues arising from flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in improving amenities and gear that helped musicians and fans.
"The notion that money from concerts in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
He is not the first artist to give his award funds to charitable organizations.
When they won the award in 1996 for their record the album, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer the artist shared her award between a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
In recent years, the band gave their prize money to the youth organization that developed their group, alongside other independent music bodies.
And the 1994 recipients M People contributed their winnings to a MS organization after a acquaintance was identified with the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked vocalist Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the trust revealed it had rescued several small stages in that region, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The first in that area and the other in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "shares" in the venues.
