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The star has donated the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor cash to the MVT, which works to preserve the UK's small concert spaces.

He was presented with the award on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the past year.

The musician has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues played in his early career.

"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I did around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.

Over the past year, well-known musicians including Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.

Sam Fender also participated, raising over £100k on his recent tour to assist 38 local spots across Britain.

These funds supported spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and fans.

"The concept that money from concerts in large arenas supports the smaller venues, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.

Fender is not the first artist to donate his honor winnings to worthy causes.

In the band won the award in the mid-90s for their album their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the group would contribute their cash to the organization War Child.

In 2002, musician she split her bounty across a few good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"I also donated a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite told outlets.

Two years ago, they donated their winnings to the community center that developed their act, as well as other grassroots music organisations.

And 1994 winners the group donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the illness.

"The victory was sufficient," said artist the singer. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory touched somebody else's life."

Recently, the MVT shared it had saved two grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.

The first in that area and The Croft in the city were acquired under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who purchase "shares" in the properties.