The artist has donated the complete sum of his £25k award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to save the United Kingdom's small concert spaces.
He was given the award on October 16 as his new release his work was declared the best record of the past year.
The musician has decided to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role local spots had in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it wasn't for all the gigs I performed around the region, and further afield, when I was just getting going," remarked Sam Fender. "These spaces are renowned, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these spaces have permanently closed – about 16% of the total UK scene.
Over the past year, well-known musicians like Pulp, Coldplay, Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all backed the Music Venues Trust in its initiatives to support the industry, by including a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which goes to help smaller concert halls.
Fender also joined in, generating more than £100,000 on his recent tour to help 38 local spots across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The money supported locations that were facing potential shutdown due to issues arising from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as permit problems, court cases and neighbor objections.
Additional spaces obtained financial assistance in modernizing facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted performers and fans.
"The idea that revenue from concerts in major spaces supports the smaller venues, where it kicks off for performers like me, is just common sense," Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to give his Mercury Prize winnings to good deeds.
In they earned the trophy in 1996 for their album Different Class, frontman Jarvis Cocker stated that the band would donate their winnings to the charity War Child.
That year, rapper and singer Ms Dynamite split her prize among several organizations, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell charity.
"And I donated a £1,000 to the center, to their gymnastics class, because I practiced gymnastics when I was a child and they needed new equipment," she shared with a publication.
Two years ago, the band contributed their funds to the community center that nurtured their band, as well as other local music groups.
Additionally the 1994 recipients the group gave their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a acquaintance was diagnosed the illness.
"Winning was sufficient," stated singer Small. "The cash was the bonus but we could do without the cherry, because we had the honor. So our success affected the lives of others."
Recently, the trust revealed it had protected several local spots in south-east England, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in Southampton and the other in that location were acquired under the Own Our Venues program, which is funded by Arts Council England and supporters who buy "stakes" in the buildings.
