Sam Fender has given the full amount of his £25,000 award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the UK's grassroots music venues.
Fender was given the cheque on October 16 as his third album his work was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
The musician has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about 16 percent of the total UK scene.
In the last year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help local stages.
He also joined in, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation supported venues that were confronting possible closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fires and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and noise complaints.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that revenue from performances in major spaces supports the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his award winnings to charitable organizations.
In they received the award in the mid-90s for their album the album, lead singer the singer declared that the group would give their cash to the charity the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her award between several good causes, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told outlets.
Two years ago, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the community center that developed their band, as well as other independent music bodies.
And the 1994 recipients M People donated their award to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.
"The victory was ample," stated vocalist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched another person's life."
In the past week, the trust shared it had rescued a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is funded by a national body and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.
