City Bridge Foundation has a new 10-year funding policy called “Standing with Londoners” which it is launching in March 2025. Funding applications will be invited from the Autumn of this year.
City Bridge Foundation was set up around 900 years ago for the maintenance of the old London Bridge. Originally named Bridge House Estates – still its legal name – its primary aim as a charity remains the maintenance of five bridges – Tower, London, Southwark, Millennium and Blackfriars.
Over the last 30 years the City Bridge Foundation has become London’s largest independent charitable funder, awarding over £840M. They also made an additional £200M available during the pandemic. Last October they temporarily closed their doors to new applications due to an unprecedented surge in numbers applying stating they wanted the pause to give them time to clear this backlog but also to review their funding policy.
Following extensive consultation, their new funding policy, called “Standing with Londoners” will be launched this month (March) and they will now focus on changing the systems that keep people marginalised whilst also addressing the issues that communities face right now. They hope to reopen for applications for one of their new funding programmes in the autumn of this year (2025) with the others opening in 2026. They have said they would operate with a sharper focus on tackling the root causes of inequality in the capital. This funding policy will inform its grant making over the next 10 years.
The foundation will look to support organisations in four key areas: Climate Justice, Access to Justice, Racial Justice and Economic Justice.
Within and across these four areas are some of the most critical issues facing London’s most marginalised communities. They are vital entry points to combat inequality and achieve social justice.
· Access to justice is about working with London’s communities to ensure everyone can access their rights and find solutions to problems — on a range of issues, including housing, social security, employment, immigration and criminal justice.
· Climate and environmental justice seeks to empower those people hardest hit by climate change, environmental hazards and pollution, to organise and champion a fair, inclusive transition as London works towards its net-zero goals.
· Racial justice is about working to create a society where inequalities based on ‘race’ are not only addressed but transformed. An underfunded area in London, the Foundation will focus on collective action to address disparities in areas such as employment, housing, education, mental health, immigration and the criminal justice system.
· Economic justice refers to the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities and economic benefits in society, ensuring that all Londoners can thrive. This could include approaches to tackling poverty, reducing income gaps and wealth inequalities.
£15m has been allocated for this financial year and up to £6m will be allocated to grants under the first of the foundation’s new funding programmes, Access to Justice – which will be designed alongside sector partners and is expected to launch in the autumn.
Full details on these four funding programmes and how to apply will be published later in the year – including what they will not fund.
If you have an application with City Bridge Foundation which you submitted before last October’s deadline and have not heard from them, they will still be assessing these applications until the summer.
By John Mikucki, KVA Funding Officer