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The star has given the full amount of his £25,000 award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the Britain's grassroots music venues.

He was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the best record of the last 12 months.

Fender has decided to donate the funds to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.

"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.

In the last 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 ticket prices, which benefits local stages.

Sam Fender also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.

These funds helped spaces that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues arising from flooding, blazes and bereavements, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.

Other venues were granted funding support in modernizing amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted performers and concertgoers.

"The notion that money from concerts in major spaces supports the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.

The musician is far from the only musician to donate his award winnings to worthy causes.

Back when they received the prize in 1996 for their release Different Class, lead singer Cocker stated that the group would donate their winnings to the non-profit War Child.

That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her award across a few organizations, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"I also contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.

In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their winnings to the youth organization that nurtured their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.

And 1994 winners the group donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the illness.

"Winning was ample," stated artist Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory affected another person's life."

In the past week, the trust shared it had protected a couple of small stages in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.

The first in Southampton and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the properties.