The star has donated the complete sum of his £25k Mercury Prize prize money to the trust for venues, which works to protect the UK's independent live music spots.
The star was given the prize on 16 October as his third album People Watching was declared the best record of the previous year.
Fender has decided to donate the funds to the trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I personally wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I played around the area, and beyond, when I was just getting going," said Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are facing challenges."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these locations have permanently closed – roughly 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by applying a minor surcharge to their admission fees, which benefits smaller concert halls.
Fender also took part, raising over £100k on his 2024 arena tour to help numerous small stages across the UK.
The money assisted venues that were dealing with possible closure due to challenges arising from flooding, blazes and bereavements, as well as licensing issues, court cases and noise complaints.
Other venues obtained financial assistance in upgrading infrastructure and gear that directly benefitted musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that money from shows in major spaces backs the smaller venues, where it kicks off for artists like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.
He is far from the only musician to contribute his award funds to worthy causes.
Back when they received the award in the mid-90s for their record Different Class, lead singer Jarvis Cocker declared that the band would give their cash to the non-profit War Child.
In 2002, musician the artist divided her bounty across multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they required updated gear," she explained to a publication.
Previously, they contributed their winnings to the local youth club that developed their band, as well as other local music groups.
Additionally winners that year M People gave their winnings to a MS organization after a acquaintance was found to have the disease.
"The victory was quite enough," remarked vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the extra but we didn't require the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory affected another person's life."
In the past week, the trust announced it had saved a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in the city and the other in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is supported by a national body and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the buildings.
