The artist has donated the entirety of his £25,000 honor cash to the Music Venues Trust, which functions to save the Britain's grassroots music venues.
Fender was presented with the cheque on 16 October as his third album People Watching was declared the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the trust, in appreciation of the vital role small stages fulfilled in his initial steps.
"As an artist wouldn't be doing this success if it weren't for all the shows I performed around the North East, and elsewhere, when I was starting out," stated Fender. "These venues are legendary, but they are in difficulty."
From early 2023 onward, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – roughly 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, major artists such as Pulp, Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its attempts to keep the scene afloat, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports independent venues.
Sam Fender also joined in, raising more than £100,000 on his live tour to assist thirty-eight grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation assisted locations that were confronting imminent closure due to issues arising from water damage, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, conflicts and noise complaints.
Some locations were granted funding support in improving amenities and technical equipment that helped artists and fans.
"The concept that funds from shows in big venues helps the independent spots, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
He is far from the only musician to donate his award prize money to charitable organizations.
Back when the band received the trophy in 1996 for their release their work, lead singer Cocker stated that the group would give their winnings to the charity War Child.
In 2002, rapper and singer she split her bounty across multiple charities, including the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"Additionally, I contributed a grand to my local community centre, to their gymnastics class, because I trained in gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," Ms Dynamite told a publication.
In recent years, Ezra Collective donated their funds to the local youth club that supported their act, alongside other independent music bodies.
And winners that year the group donated their prize to a charity for MS after a friend was found to have the disease.
"Winning was ample," remarked artist the singer. "The cash was the cherry on top but we could do without the extra, because we had the main prize. So our victory impacted another person's life."
In the past week, the trust shared it had rescued two local spots in the South East, by bringing them into community ownership.
The Joiners in Southampton and the second in the city were purchased under the Own Our Venues program, which is backed by the arts council and supporters who purchase "ownership units" in the properties.
