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Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to protect the UK's grassroots music venues.

The star was presented with the prize on October 16 as his latest record the album was chosen as the top album of the past year.

The musician has opted to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part grassroots venues had in his early career.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.

Sam Fender also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across the UK.

The donation assisted locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to challenges stemming from water damage, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.

Other venues were granted monetary aid in improving facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted musicians and fans.

"The concept that money from shows in major spaces supports the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just logical," the star has commented.

He is not the first artist to give his honor prize money to charitable organizations.

In Pulp earned the trophy in 1996 for their record the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.

In 2002, artist Ms Dynamite shared her prize between a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," the artist explained to outlets.

In recent years, the band contributed their funds to the local youth club that supported their band, as well as other local music groups.

Also 1994 winners M People gave their award to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.

"Receiving the award was ample," stated singer Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our success touched another person's life."

Recently, the trust shared it had saved a couple of small stages in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.

The Joiners in the city and the other in that location were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by a national body and enthusiasts who acquire "shares" in the venues.