The artist has donated the full amount of his £25,000 honor prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to protect the UK's grassroots live music spots.
He was presented with the award on mid-October as his latest record the album was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
The musician has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in acknowledgment of the vital role local spots fulfilled in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved what I am doing today if it hadn't been for all the shows I performed around the area, and elsewhere, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly one-sixth of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, major artists including the band Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by applying a minor surcharge to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also joined in, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to help thirty-eight small stages across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The donation helped locations that were confronting potential shutdown due to difficulties stemming from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, conflicts and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received financial assistance in modernizing amenities and gear that positively impacted performers and audiences.
"The idea that money from performances in major spaces backs the independent spots, where it kicks off for musicians like me, is just logical," Fender has stated.
The musician is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize prize money to charitable organizations.
In they earned the award in 1996 for their record their work, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the act would contribute their winnings to the charity the charity.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her prize across several organizations, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"I also contributed a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they lacked better apparatus," Ms Dynamite explained to a publication.
Two years ago, they contributed their winnings to the community center that developed their group, in addition to other local music groups.
Also 1994 winners the group donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was identified with the disease.
"Winning was quite enough," remarked singer Heather Small. "The money was the bonus but we could do without the bonus, because we had the cake. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the MVT announced it had rescued several local spots in that region, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in the city and The Croft in Bristol were acquired under the community ownership initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who buy "ownership units" in the properties.
