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The artist has handed over the complete sum of his £25k award winnings to the trust for venues, which works to protect the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.

He was given the prize on 16 October as his new release People Watching was declared the outstanding release of the previous year.

Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the vital role grassroots venues had in his early career.

"As an artist wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I played around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."

Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which goes to help independent venues.

Fender also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to help numerous small stages across the UK.

These funds assisted locations that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and noise complaints.

Other venues obtained monetary aid in improving facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped artists and fans.

"The notion that funds from concerts in big venues backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has stated.

He is among several artists to contribute his honor winnings to charitable organizations.

When Pulp earned the award in 1996 for their record the album, vocalist Cocker announced that the group would donate their winnings to the organization War Child.

In 2002, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty across multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"I also donated a £1,000 to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," she shared with outlets.

Previously, they gave their winnings to the local youth club that nurtured their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.

And the 1994 recipients the group contributed their winnings to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was identified with the disease.

"The victory was quite enough," said singer the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't require the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning touched the lives of others."

In the past week, the trust shared it had rescued a couple of local spots in the South East, by bringing them into local control.

The Joiners in that area and the second in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the properties.