Questions and answers: changes to our funding

At midday on Wednesday 3 July 2024 we closed five of our 14 funding programmes to new applications. The five programmes are: 

• Support and services for older people
• Support for children and young people
• Mental health services
• Voice and Leadership
• Increasing the quality and scale of giving. This programme includes Increasing the quality and scale of giving and Place-based giving

We will be inviting existing grant holders within those five programmes to apply for fast track one year continuation funding (subject to certain eligibility criteria). This will hopefully provide some stability and continuity for those organisations we already fund.

Due to a review of the Foundation’s reserves position in 2019/20, we were fortunate to have an additional £200m available for grant-funding to be spread over multiple years. This came at a crucial time with the impact of the pandemic and cost of living crisis hitting Londoners. It meant we could do much more to support the sector in extraordinary circumstances. 

We have now committed much of those additional funds and will gradually approve the use of the remainder to return to normal levels of grant spending by 2027. Closing some of our existing funding programmes to new applications will help us do this.

To inform this decision, we carefully considered a range of factors. We looked at the likely impact of any possible closures on parts of the voluntary sector where City Bridge Foundation is a significant funder, the impact on organisations which are smaller, less well resourced, and that support London’s most disadvantaged communities, including user-led groups, and groups serving communities with protected characteristics. We concluded that out of our 14 programmes, these five made most sense to close at this time, with mitigations in place to reduce adverse impacts.

We will honour all existing grant agreements. If you have already been awarded funding you will continue to receive it as agreed and will not be affected by the closing of these programmes.

If you have already submitted your application for continuation funding it will be assessed as normal, unless your grant ends after 30 September 2024. 

If your grant ends after 30 September 2024, we will contact you to offer an additional year of funding instead. 

If you are in the process of preparing an application for a continuation grant starting after 30 September 2024 please do not submit, we will contact you with a fast-track application process for the one-year grant outlined below.

If you have not yet applied but your grant is due to end between now and 30 September 2024, you can apply before the programme closes by noon on Wednesday 3 July 2024.

Grants ending after 30 September 2024 — you will not be able to apply for continuation funding. If you have received less than five years of continuous funding from City Bridge Foundation, you may be eligible for one year of additional funding. If you are eligible, we will write to you with an invite to apply for one year of additional funding.

Some organisations will be expecting to apply to us for ​‘continuation’ funding. Organisations would usually be eligible to apply for continuation under certain criteria. See Reapplication criteria. 

If you have already submitted an application for continuation funding it will be assessed as normal.

If your grant is funded under one of the programmes that are due to close AND you are eligible for continuation funding:

• Grants ending on or before 30 September 2024 — apply for continuation funding by noon on Wednesday 3 July 2024.
• Grants ending after 30 September 2024 — you will not be able to apply for continuation funding. If you have received less than five years of continuous funding from City Bridge Foundation, you may eligible for continuation funding. If you are eligible, we will write to you with an invite to apply for one year of additional funding.

You may be eligible to apply under one of our other grant programmes, and should check our website to see if any of your work is eligible.

If you have received less than five years of continuous funding from City Bridge Foundation, you may be eligible for continuation funding. If you are eligible, we will write to you with an invite to apply for one year of additional funding. 

No, unfortunately not. Unless you want to apply to another programme that remains open, you must wait for City Bridge Foundation to announce its new funding policy in 2025.

You cannot apply for continuation funding. However, we will contact you with an invitation to apply for one year of additional core funding.

We will contact you with an invitation to apply for one year of additional core funding.

We have now paused our ​‘Place-based giving’ funding to applications and will be launching a new funding policy in the autumn of 2025. Please watch for updates from us.

Unfortunately we are unable to process your application for continuation funding. However, we will contact you with an invitation to apply for one year of additional core funding.

When we launched our current policy in 2019, we never imagined how turbulent those following five years were going to be. Multiple crises have had a dramatic impact on the lives of Londoners and created real challenges for those who support them. 

In order to develop a new funding policy that delivers greater impact for Londoners in this changed context, we have started a major consultation with London’s charity sector and funders. 

The insights and inputs we receive during this consultation, will inform and shape our thinking around what we do in the future. We are committed to making this a considered and evidence-led process that takes into account the learning from our grant making, alongside the views and needs of our funded partners and wider stakeholders. We will share more about this over the coming months. 

We aim to have a new funding policy in place in the autumn of 2025. 

You can contact us on funding@citybridgefoundation.org.uk