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The star has donated the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound award cash to the trust for venues, which works to preserve the Britain's independent live music spots.

Fender was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his third album People Watching was named the top album of the past year.

Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots played in his beginning days.

"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the performances I played around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said the artist. "These locations are legendary, but they are facing challenges."

From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – approximately 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 backed the trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which benefits smaller concert halls.

He also participated, collecting over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.

These funds assisted locations that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and sound issues.

Some locations received financial assistance in upgrading facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and audiences.

"The notion that money from concerts in major spaces supports the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has commented.

The musician is among several artists to donate his honor funds to good deeds.

Back when they received the prize in the mid-90s for their record the album, lead singer Cocker announced that the act would donate their prize money to the organization War Child.

That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her bounty among several charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.

"And I gave a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they required better apparatus," she told a publication.

Previously, they contributed their prize money to the youth organization that nurtured their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.

And winners that year M People gave their award to a charity for MS after a friend was found to have the disease.

"Winning was ample," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning touched the lives of others."

Recently, the MVT shared it had protected a couple of small stages in south-east England, by placing them under public stewardship.

One venue in Southampton and the second in the city were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the venues.