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The artist has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the United Kingdom's grassroots live music spots.

He was presented with the award on October 16 as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the top album of the previous year.

Fender has opted to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots fulfilled in his initial steps.

"I personally couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have ceased operations – roughly 16 percent of the total UK scene.

Over the past year, major artists such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by adding a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help smaller concert halls.

Fender also participated, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight local spots across the UK.

These funds helped venues that were facing possible closure due to challenges arising from flooding, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and neighbor objections.

Other venues received financial assistance in improving infrastructure and sound and lighting systems that helped artists and audiences.

"The notion that revenue from concerts in large arenas supports the independent spots, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.

He is not the first artist to donate his honor funds to worthy causes.

In the band won the prize in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, vocalist the singer announced that the act would give their cash to the organization the charity.

That year, artist Ms Dynamite shared her prize across a few organizations, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell charity.

"Additionally, I contributed a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.

Previously, they contributed their prize money to the local youth club that developed their act, alongside other grassroots music organisations.

Also winners that year they contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the disease.

"Receiving the award was quite enough," said singer the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted another person's life."

Last week, the trust announced it had protected two grassroots venues in that region, by placing them under public stewardship.

The Joiners in that area and the other in the city were bought under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.