Funding Strategy 2018–2028
City Bridge Foundation’s Funding Strategy 2018–2028
We are pleased to share with you our new strategy for 2018 to 2028 – Bridging Divides. This strategy has been agreed by both the City Bridge Foundation Committee and the Court of Common Council, which is the City of London Corporation’s primary decision-making body.
We could not have got to this stage if it wasn’t for the hundreds of inputs we gained from individuals and organisations spanning multiple sectors, through our various surveys and face-to-face meetings and events. All of us here at City Bridge Foundation would like to extend a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone who has contributed to this process so far.
Extension of Funding Strategy to 2028
In May 2022, City Bridge Foundation recommended to its sole trustee, the City of London Corporation, that this Funding Strategy be extended for a further five years to 2028. City Corporation’s Court of Common Council considered the recommendation and re-committed to the overarching vision and mission of Bridging Divides 2018–2023, agreeing to extend the strategy for a further five years to 2028.
Since September 2023, City Bridge Trust has been known as City Bridge Foundation.
A summary of our new strategy
1. Developing the new strategy entitled Bridging Divides has allowed City Bridge Foundation to consider carefully the kinds of increasingly complex social problems it tackles; the approaches it take to investing in these matters and the way in which it can use its power and partnerships to make positive change happen. Bridging Divides shows that in order for City Bridge Foundation’s work to be effective, it must first recognise the following:
- City Bridge Foundation’s funding supports work tackling poverty, disadvantage, need and inequality.
- Much of the work City Bridge Foundation funds manages the consequences of these overlapping issues.
- City Bridge Foundation will tackle the root causes of these issues more effectively by working with partners across civil society, and public and private sectors, and by encouraging all potential partners to consider learning available.
- Adopting multiple approaches, which are adaptive and reviewed regularly making fuller use of not only City Bridge Foundation’s funding but also its knowledge and non-monetary resources, will enable City Bridge Trust to pursue an ambitious strategy successfully.
2. Bridging Divides is a vision and values led strategy. City Bridge Foundation is London’s largest independent charitable funder, and from 2018 to 2023 all of the work that it does will link to its vision for London to be a city where all individuals and communities can thrive, especially those experiencing disadvantage and marginalisation.
3. City Bridge Foundation will take a ‘total assets’ approach to achieving this vision, meaning that as well as its £100 million of funding over five years, City Bridge Foundation will also ensure the best use of its other non-monetary resources: including the links it has to civil society, other funders and the wider funding ecology, and the expertise of its trustee the CoLC and their links to local, regional and national Government and the private sector. In the strategy, City Bridge Foundation are referring to this approach as its funder plus offer.
4. Through this strategy City Bridge Foundation intends to consider the ways in which it can make the most positive impact on reducing inequality and creating cohesive communities, whilst also determining its role in improving the success and resilience of London’s civil society.