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Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the UK's small concert spaces.

The star was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his new release People Watching was named the best record of the last 12 months.

Fender has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."

From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which supports independent venues.

Sam Fender also joined in, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous grassroots venues across Britain.

The donation supported locations that were facing potential shutdown due to issues arising from floods, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.

Other venues were granted financial assistance in improving amenities and technical equipment that helped performers and audiences.

"The concept that money from performances in large arenas supports the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.

He is far from the only musician to donate his award winnings to worthy causes.

Back when the band received the award in 1996 for their album their work, lead singer the singer declared that the band would give their winnings to the charity War Child.

During 2002, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite divided her bounty among a few organizations, such as the children's charity and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"Additionally, I contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite told outlets.

In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their group, alongside other independent music bodies.

And 1994 winners the group gave their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was identified with the condition.

"Winning was sufficient," remarked singer Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't require the extra, because we had the honor. So our success impacted somebody else's life."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had protected several small stages in south-east England, by transferring them to local control.

The first in Southampton and the other in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is funded by a national body and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.