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The star has donated the entirety of his £25,000 award prize money to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the UK's grassroots concert spaces.

Fender was presented with the prize on 16 October as his latest record the album was declared the outstanding release of the past year.

Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues had in his early career.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, top acts like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.

Sam Fender also participated, generating over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 grassroots venues across the UK.

The donation helped locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues stemming from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and noise complaints.

Additional spaces received financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and gear that positively impacted performers and audiences.

"The concept that funds from concerts in large arenas backs the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

The musician is among several artists to donate his honor prize money to worthy causes.

When Pulp received the award in the year 1996 for their release their work, frontman the singer declared that the group would donate their prize money to the non-profit the charity.

That year, rapper and singer she divided her prize across several organizations, like the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist shared with outlets.

In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the local youth club that supported their group, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

And 1994 winners the group gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the illness.

"The victory was sufficient," stated artist Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning touched another person's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had protected several grassroots venues in that region, by bringing them into local control.

One venue in that area and the second in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the properties.