Sam Fender has given the complete sum of his £25,000 honor prize money to the trust for venues, which operates to protect the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was given the prize on October 16 as his latest record his work was declared the top album of the previous year.
Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was starting out," said Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – roughly one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.
He also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight small stages across Britain.
These funds assisted venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations received financial assistance in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from shows in major spaces backs the local stages, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor prize money to good deeds.
Back when they won the prize in the year 1996 for their album their work, lead singer the singer announced that the group would donate their prize money to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer she shared her award among several organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required updated gear," the artist told a publication.
Previously, Ezra Collective gave their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their band, as well as other local music groups.
Additionally winners that year M People donated their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to public stewardship.
One venue in that area and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the properties.
