The artist has handed over the entirety of his £25,000 honor winnings to the MVT, which works to save the UK's grassroots concert spaces.
Fender was given the prize on October 16 as his latest record his work was named the outstanding release of the past year.
The musician has chosen to hand the money over to the MVT, in recognition of the vital role local spots had in his beginning days.
"As an artist couldn't be pursuing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," stated the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Beginning in 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts including Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its efforts to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.
Sam Fender also took part, collecting in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight local spots across the UK.
The money helped spaces that were dealing with imminent closure due to difficulties arising from floods, fires and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces were granted financial assistance in improving amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from performances in large arenas helps the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just logical," Fender has said.
The musician is far from the only musician to contribute his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when Pulp earned the prize in 1996 for their release their work, vocalist Jarvis Cocker declared that the group would contribute their cash to the organization the charity.
That year, musician she shared her prize across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a grand to Highgate Newtown, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they lacked better apparatus," the artist told a publication.
In recent years, they contributed their prize money to the youth organization that developed their band, in addition to other local music groups.
And the 1994 recipients the group contributed their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a close contact was found to have the condition.
"Winning was quite enough," said artist Small. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted another person's life."
Recently, the Music Venues Trust announced it had saved several grassroots venues in south-east England, by transferring them to community ownership.
The Joiners in that area and the second in that location were purchased under the public acquisition initiative, which is supported by Arts Council England and music fans who purchase "stakes" in the venues.
