The artist has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize winnings to the trust for venues, which functions to save the United Kingdom's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was presented with the cheque on mid-October as his third album the album was declared the best record of the past year.
Fender has chosen to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally couldn't be pursuing this success if it hadn't been for all the shows I played around the North East, and beyond, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
In the last year, well-known musicians like the band Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its attempts to support the industry, by adding a modest fee to their ticket prices, which supports smaller concert halls.
Fender also participated, collecting over £100k on his live tour to help thirty-eight local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds supported locations that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties caused by flooding, fires and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Some locations were granted financial assistance in improving facilities and technical equipment that directly benefitted performers and concertgoers.
"The notion that money from performances in big venues backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his award winnings to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp earned the trophy in the mid-90s for their album the album, frontman Cocker announced that the band would contribute their cash to the charity War Child.
That year, musician she split her award among multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I gave a grand to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was younger and they required new equipment," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
In recent years, they gave their prize money to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients M People donated their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," stated artist the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we didn't need the extra, because we had the cake. So our victory impacted somebody else's life."
In the past week, the MVT shared it had rescued two small stages in the South East, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in Bristol were bought under the community ownership scheme, which is backed by the arts council and enthusiasts who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.
