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The star has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the Britain's small concert spaces.

He was presented with the award on mid-October as his latest record his work was named the top album of the last 12 months.

Fender has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his early career.

"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These spaces are legendary, but they are struggling."

Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these locations have shut down – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.

Over the past year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which benefits local stages.

Fender also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The money helped venues that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties caused by flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and noise complaints.

Additional spaces were granted monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and audiences.

"The concept that revenue from shows in large arenas helps the local stages, where it begins for musicians like me, is just common sense," the star has said.

Fender is far from the only musician to donate his honor funds to charitable organizations.

Back when Pulp received the trophy in the mid-90s for their record their work, frontman Cocker declared that the group would contribute their prize money to the organization War Child.

During 2002, artist she divided her award between multiple good causes, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.

"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required new equipment," she told a publication.

In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that nurtured their act, in addition to other local music groups.

And 1994 winners they donated their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the condition.

"Winning was ample," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."

Last week, the Music Venues Trust revealed it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.

One venue in the city and the other in that location were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.