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Sam Fender has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to preserve the United Kingdom's independent music venues.

The star was given the award on mid-October as his new release People Watching was named the top album of the past year.

Fender has opted to give the cash to the trust, in recognition of the essential function local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I did around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated the artist. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."

From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.

In the last year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.

He also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to support numerous small stages across the UK.

The donation helped spaces that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties arising from water damage, fires and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, court cases and sound issues.

Other venues received monetary aid in upgrading amenities and technical equipment that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.

"The notion that revenue from performances in large arenas supports the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has stated.

The musician is among several artists to donate his award prize money to charitable organizations.

When they won the prize in the year 1996 for their album the album, lead singer Cocker announced that the act would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.

In 2002, rapper and singer she divided her award across multiple good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.

"Additionally, I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," she told a publication.

In recent years, the band gave their funds to the community center that nurtured their act, alongside other independent music bodies.

Also the 1994 recipients they gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was diagnosed the illness.

"Winning was ample," stated vocalist Small. "The prize was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted somebody else's life."

In the past week, the trust announced it had saved several small stages in the South East, by bringing them into local control.

One venue in that area and the second in Bristol were purchased under the public acquisition program, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "stakes" in the venues.