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Sam Fender has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to preserve the Britain's independent live music spots.

Fender was awarded the cheque on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was named the top album of the last 12 months.

The musician has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues played in his early career.

"As an artist would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the gigs I performed around the region, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – approximately one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

In the last year, major artists like the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.

Sam Fender also took part, generating more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across Britain.

These funds helped venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues caused by water damage, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues received monetary aid in modernizing facilities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and audiences.

"The idea that revenue from concerts in big venues helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.

Fender is not the first artist to give his award winnings to charitable organizations.

When they won the trophy in 1996 for their album Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the band would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.

During 2002, artist she split her prize among a few good causes, such as the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," the artist told outlets.

Two years ago, Ezra Collective donated their prize money to the community center that supported their group, in addition to other local music groups.

And 1994 winners the group donated their winnings to a MS organization after a close contact was identified with the disease.

"Receiving the award was ample," stated vocalist Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our victory affected somebody else's life."

Recently, the MVT revealed it had rescued a couple of small stages in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.

The Joiners in Southampton and the second in Bristol were acquired under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by the arts council and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.