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The star has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 honor winnings to the MVT, which functions to save the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.

Fender was presented with the award on mid-October as his new release his work was named the outstanding release of the previous year.

The musician has opted to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the vital role small stages played in his early career.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the region, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.

Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 grassroots venues across the UK.

These funds helped venues that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties caused by flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Additional spaces received financial assistance in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.

"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas backs the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has said.

Fender is among several artists to contribute his award prize money to charitable organizations.

In Pulp won the trophy in 1996 for their release Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would give their prize money to the charity War Child.

During 2002, musician she split her award across a few charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.

In recent years, the band gave their winnings to the local youth club that supported their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

And the 1994 recipients M People donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was diagnosed the disease.

"The victory was ample," said artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our victory affected another person's life."

In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued several grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.

One venue in that area and the other in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by a national body and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the properties.