Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor cash to the trust for venues, which functions to save the UK's grassroots music venues.
The star was presented with the prize on October 16 as his latest record People Watching was named the best record of the previous year.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in recognition of the essential function local spots played in his early career.
"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the total UK scene.
Recently, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support numerous local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation assisted venues that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges arising from water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.
Some locations were granted funding support in modernizing infrastructure and technical equipment that helped performers and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from shows in big venues backs the local stages, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is among several artists to donate his honor prize money to charitable organizations.
In Pulp earned the prize in the year 1996 for their album the album, vocalist the singer declared that the act would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite shared her bounty across multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she told outlets.
Previously, the band donated their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their band, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally 1994 winners the group donated their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," remarked artist Heather Small. "The cash was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected another person's life."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust shared it had rescued several small stages in that region, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in that area and The Croft in that location were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
