Sam Fender has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award prize money to the MVT, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's small music venues.
Fender was awarded the prize on mid-October as his new release the album was declared the top album of the previous year.
Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.
"I couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the gigs I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.
Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 small stages across Britain.
The money supported spaces that were dealing with possible closure due to issues caused by flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in improving facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and fans.
"The concept that money from shows in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to give his award funds to charitable organizations.
Back when the band received the prize in 1996 for their release the album, frontman Cocker stated that the act would donate their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
That year, musician the artist split her bounty across several organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"Additionally, I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," she shared with outlets.
Previously, the band contributed their winnings to the community center that developed their band, alongside other local music groups.
Additionally 1994 winners M People contributed their award to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was found to have the illness.
"The victory was sufficient," remarked artist Small. "The cash was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the cake. So our success impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued several small stages in the South East, by transferring them to community ownership.
One venue in that area and the other in that location were acquired under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who buy "shares" in the properties.
