The artist has donated the entirety of his £25k award prize money to the Music Venues Trust, which works to preserve the United Kingdom's independent concert spaces.
He was given the cheque on October 16 as his new release the album was chosen as the best record of the previous year.
He has decided to hand the money over to the trust, in acknowledgment of the crucial part small stages had in his initial steps.
"I personally wouldn't be doing this success if it wasn't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was beginning," remarked the artist. "These venues are renowned, but they are struggling."
From early 2023 onward, over 150 of these spaces have shut down – about one-sixth of the entire UK sector.
In the last year, top acts including the band Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to support the industry, by applying a modest fee to their ticket costs, which benefits local stages.
He also joined in, collecting over £100k on his live tour to assist numerous grassroots venues across the UK.
The money helped spaces that were confronting imminent closure due to issues stemming from floods, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as licensing issues, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained funding support in upgrading infrastructure and technical equipment that directly benefitted artists and fans.
"The idea that revenue from shows in major spaces helps the independent spots, where it all starts for artists like me, is just sensible," Sam Fender has stated.
Fender is among several artists to give his award prize money to worthy causes.
When they received the prize in 1996 for their release the album, frontman Cocker announced that the band would donate their cash to the charity War Child.
During 2002, musician Ms Dynamite shared her prize among a few organizations, such as the children's charity and a Sickle Cell organization.
"Additionally, I gave a £1,000 to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was younger and they required better apparatus," Ms Dynamite shared with the media.
Two years ago, they donated their winnings to the community center that nurtured their band, in addition to other grassroots music organisations.
Additionally the 1994 recipients the group gave their award to a MS organization after a friend was identified with the illness.
"The victory was sufficient," said vocalist Heather Small. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the cherry, because we had the main prize. So our winning affected the lives of others."
Recently, the MVT shared it had saved two grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into local control.
One venue in Southampton and the other in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by a national body and music fans who acquire "shares" in the buildings.
