The star has handed over the complete sum of his £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which works to protect the Britain's small live music spots.
The star was presented with the prize on 16 October as his third album People Watching was chosen as the outstanding release of the previous year.
Fender has opted to hand the money over to the Music Venues Trust, in appreciation of the vital role grassroots venues fulfilled in his beginning days.
"I wouldn't be doing what I am doing today if it weren't for all the shows I did around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," said Fender. "These locations are iconic, but they are in difficulty."
Since the start of 2023, at least 150 of these spaces have shut down – about 16% of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, well-known musicians such as Pulp, the group Coldplay, Katy Perry and Sheeran have all backed the MVT in its initiatives to support the industry, by adding a minor surcharge to their ticket prices, which supports local stages.
He also participated, collecting over £100k on his recent tour to help 38 grassroots venues across Britain.
The donation assisted locations that were confronting imminent closure due to challenges stemming from flooding, fire incidents and personal losses, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and noise complaints.
Additional spaces received funding support in upgrading facilities and sound and lighting systems that positively impacted musicians and concertgoers.
"The concept that funds from concerts in major spaces backs the local stages, where it all starts for performers like me, is just logical," Fender has commented.
The musician is not the first artist to give his honor winnings to worthy causes.
When the band won the prize in the mid-90s for their release Different Class, frontman the singer stated that the act would contribute their prize money to the charity War Child.
During 2002, artist the artist split her bounty among multiple charities, like the NSPCC and a charity for Sickle Cell.
"And I gave a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their gymnastics program, because I did gymnastics when I was growing up and they lacked better apparatus," the artist explained to a publication.
Previously, the band donated their prize money to the youth organization that supported their band, alongside other independent music bodies.
And 1994 winners the group gave their award to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the condition.
"Receiving the award was ample," said artist the singer. "The prize was the extra but we didn't need the extra, because we had the honor. So our winning impacted the lives of others."
In the past week, the Music Venues Trust announced it had protected several grassroots venues in the South East, by bringing them into public stewardship.
The Joiners in the city and the other in the city were purchased under the public acquisition scheme, which is backed by Arts Council England and supporters who acquire "shares" in the properties.
