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The star has handed over the full amount of his £25k honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the Britain's independent live music spots.

He was awarded the prize on 16 October as his new release his work was chosen as the best record of the past year.

The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the MVT, in appreciation of the crucial part local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the performances I played around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, top acts such as the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also took part, raising more than £100,000 on his recent tour to support 38 grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation assisted locations that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Some locations obtained funding support in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that helped artists and concertgoers.

"The idea that funds from performances in big venues backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.

He is far from the only musician to contribute his award prize money to worthy causes.

When Pulp received the prize in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.

During 2002, musician she shared her bounty between several good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also donated a grand to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she explained to a publication.

In recent years, they donated their prize money to the community center that supported their group, as well as other independent music bodies.

And winners that year the group donated their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the condition.

"The victory was quite enough," remarked vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected another person's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected a couple of local spots in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.

The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were bought under the public acquisition initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.