Closure of rolling grants programme FAQs

We are prioritising the applications that are most closely aligned to our mission and from Tuesday, 8 October 2024 we are closing our rolling grant programmes to new applications for one year.

In recent months we have seen a surge in the number of funding applications received at City Bridge Foundation. This has happened because of changes in our own funding programmes, changes introduced by other funders, and several years of accumulated pressure on the voluntary sector from multiple crises.

The increase in applications is well beyond our ability to fund. In order to deal with existing applications and remain within budget, we have had to prioritise the applications that are most closely aligned to our mission and close our rolling grant programmes to new applications for one year, from Tuesday, 8 October 2024.

Collaborative funding programmes such as Propel and our strategic funding programmes such as the Anchor Programme and our suicide prevention funding are not affected.

Our Funding Committee and Board looked carefully at all possible options with their two main priorities being the responsible management of our funds and mitigating negative impact on the sector.

Unfortunately, we need to prioritise responding to the huge number of applications we have received already this year. The funding we have available will not be sufficient to meet the demand we have already seen. Whilst we regret the impact that this closure will have on some organisations, we want to avoid civil society organisations using considerable time and resources submitting applications which will have a very limited chance of being funded.

We cannot support everyone, but we will be offering an additional one-year of core funding to eligible organisations holding City Bridge Foundation grants of less than five years. We hope this will partially mitigate some of the impact on the sector, as we try to be responsible and flexible in a very challenging environment.

We are not the only funder experiencing a demand for funding which far outstrips available funds, and we need to pause to refocus and to build a robust policy.

We have spoken with a number of infrastructure bodies to inform them of our plans, and to take their advice. We have also liaised with other funders, both to inform, and to understand their learning from their own closures (recent and past).

The unprecedented events of the last few years (especially the impact of Covid and the cost of living crisis) have impacted the sector in ways that have made forward planning and financial forecasting very difficult. We were able to approve an additional, one-off £200m in grant funding prior to the pandemic, spread over multiple years, but much of this funding has now been committed. The recent surge in funding applications has taken us, and other funders by surprise.

All of our funding comes from the returns from our investment portfolio, which have been impacted by economic events across recent years. Thankfully, we expect to continue to provide support to London’s charities at a core level of £30m per year.

We will take the learning from this challenging time forward into our new funding policy and hope to embed the lessons.

We will honour all existing grant agreements. If you have already been awarded funding you will continue to receive it as agreed in our terms and conditions, 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 current grant end date is after 31 December 2024, in which case we will contact you.

If you have not yet applied but your grant is due to end between now and 31 December 2024, you can apply before the programme closes by noon on Tuesday, 8 October 2024.

If your grant ends after 31 December 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 an additional one-off core grant for one year of funding. If you are eligible, we will write to you with an invite to apply.

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

If you have already submitted an application for continuation funding it will be assessed as normal, unless your current grant ends after 31 December 2024.

If you are eligible for continuation funding and haven’t yet submitted an application:

• Grants ending on or before 31 December 2024 — apply for continuation by noon on Tuesday, 8 October 2024.
• Grants ending after 31 December 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 an additional one-off core grant for one year of funding. If you are eligible, we will write to you with an invitation to apply.

Currently, the demand for our funding is far exceeding the amount of funding we have available. We have decided on this deadline as organisations with grants ending in the next three months as the most likely to have already been planning an application.

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

No, unfortunately not. Our new funding policy will be announced in autumn 2025, you may be eligible to apply then.

We will still process your application unless you are applying for continuation funding and your current grant ends after 31 December 2024, in which case we will contact you. 

Due to the large numbers of applications we are dealing with, we have introduced monthly funding panels to help us manage the workload. We are also prioritising applications that are most closely aligned to our funding mission.

We aim to have a new funding policy in place in the autumn of 2025 and will make announcements closer to that time.

In order to develop a new funding policy that delivers greater impact for Londoners in this changed context, we started a major consultation with London’s charity sector and funders at the beginning of 2024.

Even as we develop our new funding policy, there will be important elements of continuity. These include: commitments to EDI and climate justice; to combatting inequality and achieving social justice; to supporting immediate needs amongst London’s most marginalised communities, and to tackling root causes in order to achieve long term social change. 

We remain committed to continuing our support for small grassroots organisations and infrastructure organisations, as well our non-financial ​‘funder plus’ model – the use of all of our available assets to help our funded organisations. The sector can expect to see a commitment to core and unrestricted funding.

We have also just completed a year-long review of our practices and will implement its recommendations. This means the sector will experience a more flexible and relational funder, with streamlined processes designed to bring us one step closer to applicants and funded organisations.

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

Please see our Contact page for more information on feedback and complaints.