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The artist has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 award cash to the trust for venues, which operates to save the UK's independent live music spots.

The star was presented with the prize on October 16 as his third album People Watching was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.

The musician has decided to give the cash to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part local spots played in his early career.

"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the total UK scene.

In the last year, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a small levy to their admission fees, which supports smaller concert halls.

He also participated, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation helped locations that were facing potential shutdown due to challenges arising from floods, fires and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.

Additional spaces received financial assistance in upgrading facilities and gear that positively impacted artists and audiences.

"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas helps the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just sensible," the star has said.

Fender is among several artists to contribute his award prize money to good deeds.

When Pulp earned the award in the year 1996 for their album Different Class, lead singer Cocker stated that the band would contribute their winnings to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, rapper and singer the artist split her bounty among a few charities, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.

"And I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed better apparatus," the artist shared with the media.

Previously, Ezra Collective gave their funds to the youth organization that nurtured their band, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients they gave their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the condition.

"Winning was sufficient," said singer the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched somebody else's life."

In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued two grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to local control.

One venue in that area and the other in Bristol were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.