Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
The star was presented with the cheque on October 16 as his latest record the album was named the top album of the last 12 months.
He has opted to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues had in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the total UK scene.
In the last year, top acts including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits independent venues.
Sam Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his recent tour to support numerous small stages across Britain.
The donation assisted spaces that were facing possible closure due to difficulties arising from floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in modernizing facilities and gear that directly benefitted musicians and fans.
"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has said.
Fender is among several artists to donate his award prize money to worthy causes.
Back when Pulp won the prize in 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman Cocker announced that the band would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
During 2002, musician she divided her award among several charities, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," the artist shared with a publication.
Two years ago, the band donated their prize money to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally winners that year M People donated their award to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked vocalist the singer. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved a couple of local spots in south-east England, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in that area and the second in that location were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.
