Sam Fender has handed over the complete sum of his £25k honor prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.
He was given the prize on mid-October as his latest record the album was named the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function local spots played in his initial steps.
"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the MVT in its efforts to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds assisted spaces that were facing possible closure due to difficulties arising from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.
Other venues received financial assistance in upgrading amenities and gear that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from concerts in large arenas helps the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just logical," the star has commented.
He is far from the only musician to donate his award winnings to charitable organizations.
When they earned the prize in the mid-90s for their release the album, lead singer the singer announced that the act would contribute their cash to the charity the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer she shared her prize across multiple good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with a publication.
In recent years, they gave their funds to the local youth club that developed their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Also the 1994 recipients M People gave their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was diagnosed the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," said artist Heather Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't require the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success affected another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued two local spots in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The first in the city and The Croft in the city were acquired under the community ownership initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the venues.
