The artist has given the entirety of his £25k award cash to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to protect the Britain's small live music spots.
He was presented with the award on October 16 as his third album People Watching was declared the top album of the previous year.
Fender has chosen to give the cash to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the essential function small stages played in his early career.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the performances I performed around the area, and beyond, when I was beginning," stated Fender. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Since the start of 2023, more than 150 of these spaces have shut down – approximately 16% of the whole industry in the UK.
Recently, well-known musicians including Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the trust in its initiatives to keep the scene afloat, by adding a modest fee to their admission fees, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
He also took part, raising over £100k on his live tour to assist 38 local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
These funds assisted locations that were facing potential shutdown due to issues stemming from water damage, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, court cases and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces received funding support in modernizing amenities and gear that positively impacted musicians and fans.
"The concept that funds from shows in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just logical," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is among several artists to give his honor prize money to good deeds.
Back when the band earned the prize in the mid-90s for their record their work, vocalist Cocker declared that the act would contribute their winnings to the non-profit War Child.
That year, rapper and singer the artist shared her bounty among multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I donated a thousand pounds to the center, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," she told a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective contributed their prize money to the local youth club that supported their act, as well as other local music groups.
And winners that year they gave their award to a MS organization after a friend was diagnosed the illness.
"Receiving the award was ample," stated vocalist Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the cherry, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
Last week, the trust announced it had rescued several local spots in that region, by transferring them to public stewardship.
The first in the city and the other in Bristol were acquired under the Own Our Venues scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "ownership units" in the buildings.
