The star has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
He was awarded the award on 16 October as his new release People Watching was named the best record of the previous year.
He has chosen to give the cash to the MVT, in appreciation of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I couldn't be pursuing my current career if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the area, and further afield, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have ceased operations – approximately 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all supported the MVT in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a small levy to their ticket prices, which goes to help local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, collecting more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds helped locations that were confronting possible closure due to difficulties caused by water damage, blazes and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and noise complaints.
Other venues were granted financial assistance in modernizing amenities and sound and lighting systems that directly benefitted performers and audiences.
"The concept that revenue from shows in major spaces helps the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has said.
He is far from the only musician to give his honor winnings to worthy causes.
In the band earned the prize in the mid-90s for their record their work, vocalist the singer announced that the group would contribute their cash to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her prize among several organizations, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I gave a thousand pounds to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked updated gear," she told outlets.
Previously, Ezra Collective gave their prize money to the youth organization that supported their act, alongside other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients they contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated vocalist Small. "The prize was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the main prize. So our success touched another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in south-east England, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in the city and the other in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is supported by the arts council and music fans who purchase "ownership units" in the venues.
