The artist has given the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the UK's grassroots live music spots.
Fender was given the cheque on 16 October as his latest record People Watching was named the outstanding release of the last 12 months.
He has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing my current career if it wasn't for all the shows I did around the region, and further afield, when I was starting out," said Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these venues have shut down – about 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, major artists like Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a small levy to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Fender also took part, generating more than £100,000 on his recent tour to assist 38 local spots across the UK.
The donation helped spaces that were confronting possible closure due to issues stemming from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, court cases and neighbor objections.
Some locations were granted monetary aid in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted artists and audiences.
"The notion that money from shows in big venues helps the independent spots, where it begins for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to give his honor prize money to good deeds.
When Pulp won the award in 1996 for their album the album, frontman Cocker stated that the act would donate their winnings to the organization the charity.
In 2002, artist the artist divided her prize between a few charities, including the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"I also donated a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they needed better apparatus," the artist shared with a publication.
Previously, they gave their funds to the local youth club that developed their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
And the 1994 recipients the group gave their prize to a charity for MS after a acquaintance was diagnosed the condition.
"Winning was ample," stated artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning touched somebody else's life."
Last week, the MVT shared it had rescued two grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The first in Southampton and the other in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership initiative, which is funded by the arts council and enthusiasts who buy "shares" in the venues.
