The star has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 honor winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
The star was presented with the prize on October 16 as his latest record People Watching was named the top album of the last 12 months.
The musician has decided to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the crucial part grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the gigs I performed around the North East, and further afield, when I was starting out," remarked Fender. "These spaces are legendary, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – roughly 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, top acts like the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the trust in its attempts to support the industry, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating more than £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 small stages across Britain.
These funds supported locations that were facing imminent closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fires and personal losses, as well as permit problems, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Some locations obtained monetary aid in modernizing infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted artists and concertgoers.
"The notion that funds from concerts in major spaces helps the local stages, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just sensible," Fender has said.
The musician is not the first artist to donate his Mercury Prize funds to good deeds.
When they earned the prize in 1996 for their album the album, vocalist Cocker declared that the band would give their prize money to the non-profit the charity.
In 2002, rapper and singer she divided her prize among multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their classes, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed new equipment," the artist told a publication.
Previously, the band donated their prize money to the community center that nurtured their act, in addition to other independent music bodies.
And winners that year the group contributed their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was ample," said singer the singer. "The money was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory touched the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT announced it had rescued two local spots in that region, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the other in Bristol were purchased under the community ownership program, which is funded by Arts Council England and enthusiasts who purchase "stakes" in the properties.
