Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25k honor prize money to the MVT, which functions to save the United Kingdom's independent live music spots.
He was presented with the cheque on October 16 as his new release his work was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in appreciation of the crucial part small stages played in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the area, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.
He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to help numerous small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties caused by floods, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained funding support in improving amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted artists and fans.
"The concept that funds from concerts in major spaces backs the local stages, where it begins for performers like me, is just sensible," the star has said.
He is not the first artist to give his award prize money to worthy causes.
In Pulp earned the prize in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker announced that the group would give their prize money to the charity the charity.
During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her bounty between multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"I also gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with outlets.
In recent years, they donated their prize money to the community center that developed their act, as well as other independent music bodies.
Additionally 1994 winners they contributed their award to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"Winning was quite enough," said singer Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the cake. So our victory affected another person's life."
Recently, the MVT shared it had rescued two local spots in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
One venue in that area and the other in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who buy "ownership units" in the buildings.
