The musician contributes his £25k prize award winnings to small concert halls
The star has handed over the entirety of his twenty-five thousand pound Mercury Prize cash to the MVT, which works to save the United Kingdom's grassroots music venues.
The star was given the prize on 16 October as his latest record the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
He has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the essential function grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the gigs I did around the North East, and beyond, when I was starting out," stated Sam Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
Recently, top acts such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all aided the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a small levy to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.
Sam Fender also joined in, generating over £100k on his live tour to help numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The donation helped locations that were dealing with potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and sound issues.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in upgrading amenities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and fans.
"The notion that money from shows in major spaces backs the local stages, where it begins for artists like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize funds to charitable organizations.
When they received the award in the year 1996 for their album their work, lead singer Cocker announced that the band would donate their cash to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer the artist shared her award between a few charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I trained in gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked updated gear," Ms Dynamite explained to the media.
In recent years, they gave their prize money to the youth organization that developed their group, alongside other local music groups.
And winners that year M People gave their winnings to a charity for MS after a close contact was identified with the illness.
"Receiving the award was quite enough," remarked vocalist Small. "The money was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the cake. So our success touched the lives of others."
In the past week, the MVT revealed it had saved several local spots in the South East, by placing them under community ownership.
The first in the city and the second in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is supported by the arts council and supporters who acquire "ownership units" in the properties.