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The artist has handed over the complete sum of his £25k award winnings to the MVT, which works to save the Britain's small concert spaces.

He was awarded the award on mid-October as his new release his work was declared the top album of the past year.

He has opted to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function local spots played in his initial steps.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the shows I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.

Over the past year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which benefits smaller concert halls.

Sam Fender also took part, raising in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist numerous local spots across the UK.

The donation assisted venues that were facing potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and sound issues.

Some locations received monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.

"The concept that funds from shows in large arenas backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.

The musician is among several artists to donate his award funds to worthy causes.

When the band earned the prize in the mid-90s for their record their work, lead singer Cocker stated that the band would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.

That year, musician she split her bounty across a few organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I contributed a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," she explained to outlets.

In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their winnings to the youth organization that supported their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.

Also 1994 winners M People gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the disease.

"The victory was ample," stated singer the singer. "The money was the bonus but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning affected the lives of others."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to local control.

One venue in that area and The Croft in the city were bought under the community ownership initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.