The artist has given the entirety of his £25k Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which works to preserve the Britain's grassroots live music spots.
He was given the cheque on mid-October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
The musician has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the essential function grassroots venues played in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing my current career if it weren't for all the performances I played around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked Fender. "These locations are renowned, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have ceased operations – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.
Fender also joined in, generating in excess of £100,000 on his live tour to support 38 local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported venues that were dealing with possible closure due to difficulties caused by water damage, blazes and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and sound issues.
Additional spaces were granted funding support in modernizing facilities and gear that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The concept that revenue from performances in big venues supports the local stages, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just common sense," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is among several artists to give his honor winnings to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp earned the prize in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker announced that the act would give their winnings to the non-profit the charity.
That year, rapper and singer she split her award among several good causes, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," the artist shared with a publication.
In recent years, they gave their funds to the local youth club that developed their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
Additionally winners that year M People donated their prize to a MS organization after a acquaintance was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," stated singer Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory touched another person's life."
Last week, the MVT announced it had protected a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The first in that area and the other in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by the arts council and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
