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The artist has given the full amount of his £25k award winnings to the trust for venues, which works to protect the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.

The star was awarded the award on 16 October as his new release his work was named the best record of the past year.

The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the MVT, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues played in his initial steps.

"As an artist would not have achieved my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – about one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.

Recently, top acts such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits independent venues.

He also took part, collecting more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist numerous small stages across the UK.

The money helped spaces that were dealing with possible closure due to issues caused by flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, conflicts and noise complaints.

Some locations received monetary aid in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and audiences.

"The notion that funds from concerts in large arenas helps the independent spots, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," the star has stated.

Fender is among several artists to donate his award funds to worthy causes.

In they received the prize in the year 1996 for their release Different Class, vocalist the singer stated that the band would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.

In 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her bounty among a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I contributed a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," the artist shared with outlets.

In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the local youth club that developed their group, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.

Also winners that year they donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was diagnosed the condition.

"The victory was ample," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the honor. So our victory touched another person's life."

Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had saved a couple of local spots in that region, by placing them under local control.

One venue in the city and The Croft in that location were purchased under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "stakes" in the venues.