Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to save the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
The star was given the cheque on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
He has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots had in his initial steps.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it weren't for all the performances I did around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.
Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation helped locations that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, blazes and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and sound issues.
Other venues were granted funding support in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The notion that money from performances in large arenas backs the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.
Back when Pulp won the award in 1996 for their album their work, frontman the singer declared that the act would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she shared her prize between multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," she shared with outlets.
In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that developed their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients they contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was diagnosed the condition.
"The victory was quite enough," remarked singer Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the MVT shared it had protected several local spots in the South East, by placing them under local control.
The first in that area and the second in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by a national body and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the buildings.
