The artist has given the entirety of his £25,000 award prize money to the MVT, which works to save the Britain's small music venues.
He was presented with the prize on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was declared the top album of the past year.
The musician has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his initial steps.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," said the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, more than 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Over the past year, well-known musicians including the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Sam Fender also took part, generating in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation assisted spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to issues stemming from floods, fires and family tragedies, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Some locations were granted monetary aid in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and fans.
"The idea that revenue from performances in big venues backs the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," the star has stated.
He is not the first artist to give his award winnings to charitable organizations.
Back when the band won the award in the mid-90s for their release their work, vocalist Cocker declared that the band would give their cash to the organization the charity.
During 2002, musician she divided her bounty among multiple organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked new equipment," the artist explained to a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their funds to the local youth club that developed their group, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners M People contributed their winnings to a charity for MS after a friend was identified with the illness.
"The victory was quite enough," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the extra but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning impacted another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved two small stages in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in that location were acquired under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by a national body and music fans who acquire "shares" in the buildings.
