Sam Fender has given the entirety of his £25,000 honor cash to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the UK's small live music spots.
Fender was awarded the award on 16 October as his third album People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his initial steps.
"As an artist would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the performances I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated the artist. "These spaces are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – about 16% of the total UK scene.
Recently, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its efforts to support the industry, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, generating more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The money supported venues that were facing imminent closure due to difficulties caused by water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received monetary aid in modernizing amenities and gear that helped artists and fans.
"The notion that money from concerts in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has commented.
He is far from the only musician to donate his award prize money to charitable organizations.
In Pulp won the prize in the year 1996 for their album the album, frontman Cocker stated that the group would contribute their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, musician she divided her bounty among multiple good causes, like the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also gave a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," the artist told a publication.
Previously, the band contributed their prize money to the local youth club that nurtured their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.
And 1994 winners M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," said vocalist Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success touched another person's life."
Last week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had saved a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in Bristol were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.
