The star has given the full amount of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to save the UK's small concert spaces.
Fender was given the cheque on mid-October as his latest record the album was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
He has chosen to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role small stages had in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it weren't for all the performances I played around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," stated Fender. "These venues are renowned, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these venues have permanently closed – about one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, top acts such as Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to help venues survive, by including a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also participated, generating more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help 38 small stages across Britain.
These funds helped venues that were dealing with potential shutdown due to issues stemming from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Some locations received funding support in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that helped performers and audiences.
"The idea that money from performances in big venues backs the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," the star has said.
He is among several artists to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to worthy causes.
In the band earned the award in 1996 for their record Different Class, vocalist Cocker declared that the band would give their prize money to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer the artist shared her award across a few good causes, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they required better apparatus," she told outlets.
In recent years, they gave their funds to the local youth club that supported their act, in addition to other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners the group contributed their prize to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was sufficient," remarked vocalist Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success impacted another person's life."
Recently, the MVT revealed it had protected a couple of local spots in that region, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in Southampton and The Croft in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "stakes" in the buildings.
