The artist has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award prize money to the trust for venues, which works to protect the United Kingdom's small live music spots.
The star was given the award on mid-October as his latest record People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
Fender has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role grassroots venues had in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the area, and further afield, when I was beginning," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to help venues survive, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help local stages.
He also participated, raising over £100k on his recent tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped spaces that were facing possible closure due to challenges caused by floods, fire incidents and family tragedies, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues were granted monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that revenue from performances in large arenas supports the independent spots, where it begins for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
In the band earned the trophy in the year 1996 for their album their work, frontman the singer announced that the act would donate their prize money to the charity War Child.
During 2002, rapper and singer she split her bounty across several charities, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their classes, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," the artist told outlets.
In recent years, the band contributed their winnings to the youth organization that developed their act, as well as other local music groups.
Also the 1994 recipients the group gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was diagnosed the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," stated vocalist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the cake. So our winning affected somebody else's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust shared it had saved several grassroots venues in that region, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in Southampton and the second in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by a national body and supporters who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
