The artist has donated the complete sum of his twenty-five thousand pound award winnings to the Music Venues Trust, which operates to preserve the Britain's grassroots concert spaces.
He was awarded the award on mid-October as his new release People Watching was chosen as the top album of the last 12 months.
Fender has opted to donate the funds to the Music Venues Trust, in recognition of the crucial part local spots had in his early career.
"I personally would not have achieved this success if it hadn't been for all the gigs I played around the North East, and further afield, when I was beginning," said the artist. "These venues are iconic, but they are struggling."
Beginning in 2023, over 150 of these locations have ceased operations – approximately 16 percent of the entire UK sector.
Over the past year, top acts like Pulp, the group Coldplay, the singer Katy Perry and Ed Sheeran have all supported the trust in its initiatives to help venues survive, by including a modest fee to their ticket costs, which goes to help independent venues.
Fender also participated, raising in excess of £100,000 on his 2024 arena tour to support 38 small stages across Britain.
These funds supported locations that were facing possible closure due to challenges arising from flooding, fire incidents and bereavements, as well as regulatory hurdles, legal disputes and neighbor objections.
Other venues obtained funding support in modernizing facilities and gear that directly benefitted artists and audiences.
"The idea that revenue from shows in major spaces helps the smaller venues, where it begins for performers like me, is just common sense," the star has commented.
Fender is not the first artist to donate his award funds to worthy causes.
In the band received the prize in the mid-90s for their album the album, vocalist Jarvis Cocker stated that the act would give their cash to the non-profit War Child.
That year, artist Ms Dynamite split her bounty between several good causes, such as the NSPCC and a Sickle Cell organization.
"And I contributed a thousand pounds to my local community centre, to their classes, because I practiced gymnastics when I was growing up and they needed new equipment," she explained to a publication.
Two years ago, the band gave their funds to the youth organization that developed their group, alongside other independent music bodies.
Also the 1994 recipients they donated their prize to a multiple sclerosis charity after a friend was found to have the condition.
"The victory was sufficient," stated artist Heather Small. "The prize was the bonus but we didn't need the bonus, because we had the honor. So our victory affected another person's life."
Recently, the trust announced it had rescued a couple of grassroots venues in the South East, by transferring them to local control.
The Joiners in that area and The Croft in the city were bought under the Own Our Venues initiative, which is backed by Arts Council England and music fans who acquire "shares" in the venues.
