The artist has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the MVT, which works to preserve the UK's independent music venues.
The star was awarded the award on mid-October as his third album the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I would not have achieved my current career if it weren't for all the shows I played around the region, and beyond, when I was just getting going," stated Sam Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – about 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports smaller concert halls.
He also took part, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues stemming from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Some locations obtained funding support in modernizing infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just common sense," Fender has stated.
The musician is far from the only musician to donate his honor prize money to worthy causes.
When the band earned the award in the year 1996 for their release the album, vocalist Cocker declared that the band would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, artist she divided her prize among multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated 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," she explained to the media.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the community center that supported their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also the 1994 recipients M People contributed their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and the second in the city were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the properties.
