Celebrating 30 years of funding

For 30 years, City Bridge Foundation has been more than a funder. It’s been a lifeline, supporting the capital’s charity sector through turbulent times.

From the economic crash of 2008 through Covid and the cost-of-living crisis, its importance to the sector has grown as statutory funding sources have shrunk, according to Tim Wilson, associate director of social investment and, with 15 years on the clock, the longest serving member of the funding team.

It all began in September 1995 – before many of the foundation’s current staff were even born – in the unprepossessing surroundings of committee room five at Guildhall, headquarters of the City of London Corporation – the foundation’s sole trustee.

There, 14 elected members of the Square Mile’s governing body signed off of 11 grants totalling £168,350, the first of which was £18,000 to the mental health charity Sign – now SignHealth – to buy a new minibus.

The funding arm of the ancient charity Bridge House Estates would become known as City Bridge Trust, before the charity’s bridge maintenance and charity funding functions were united under the new City Bridge Foundation brand in 2023.

Over 30 years, the foundation has awarded over £840 million to a broad range of projects – everything from community green spaces where residents can grow their own food, to social activities for older people to projects aimed at boosting the confidence, skills and career prospects of young people.

However, with £200m of extra support put in place to help charities in the aftermath of the pandemic now coming to an end, limited funding combined with an unprecedented demand for grants means the foundation will have to forge a different path in future.

“We are there to facilitate and assist the excellent work that’s taking place across London, but all the time we have to challenge ourselves because the money we have is finite and the context is continually changing,” says Tim.

“There’s a strong case for providing funding for vital services, but we can’t fund that way in perpetuity. There has to be more of a focus on funding work at a structural level that is seeking to be transformative.”

This new approach, which will firmly position the foundation as a social justice funder with a sharp focus on tackling the root causes of injustice, is embodied in its new 10-year funding policy, Standing With Londoners.

The policy, designed in close collaboration with the wider sector, draws on experience learned over 30 years and, in particular during the pandemic and its aftermath.

“We’ve really learned the importance of collaboration, of being willing to take risks and of looking at our processes to ensure we are as inclusive as possible to as wide a range of organisations as possible,” says Tim.

While the sector, and society more generally, faces many challenges, he remains optimistic the foundation, playing a pivotal role in the life of the capital, will in another three decades’ time have played its part in tackling the injustice and inequality which remains all too prevalent.

“In 30 years’ time I’d like to see a London that is a more equitable place, somewhere that works for people with a range of incomes, where there are strong support mechanisms in place for those who need it,” says Tim.

“I hope we will have a civil society that has adequate resources and an important role to play, made up of a really dynamic network of organisations working together to tackle the problems the capital faces.

“While there are challenges for the sector, for me the rays of sunlight and optimism come from the energy, the passion and the capabilities of the hugely inspiring people who are working tirelessly to tackle the issues London faces.”

The first ever grant

The very first grant awarded in September 1995 was £18,000 to Sign for a new minibus to take service users to a day centre in Balham. Thirty years on, the organisation, now called SignHealth, continues to thrive.

“I remember the Balham office really well,” says the charity’s service manager, Vicki Trapps. ​“There was a real sense of community and it was always lovely to see people coming in with a smile on their face.

“We are such a different organisation to the one we were 30 years ago and some of that is down to City Bridge Foundation. It feels very special to have been the first ever grant recipient.”

Bright futures for young people

At the time the longest grant it had awarded, in 2015 the foundation awarded £10 million to the Prince’s Trust – now the King’s Trust – providing vital opportunities and empowering young people to build the confidence and skills to get into work and secure brighter futures.

In that time, City Bridge Foundation funding supported 16,798 children and young people, including 4,279 supported through the flexible personal development programme Achieve and 2,727 who participated in Get Started courses, learning confidence and skills in industries ranging from fashion and music to nature and sport.

The power of drama

The foundation awarded £63,000 to dementia charity The Dot Collective for activities including A Map To You, in which professional playwrights and actors work with people with dementia and their families, taking elements from their lives and incorporating them into a short play which the participant and their families can watch. As you can imagine, there’s barely a dry eye in the house.

“The reactions are often deeply moving – you can see recognition in their eyes, and their families’ joy is palpable,” says actor Jo Wickham. ​“It’s a privilege to give their stories a voice and celebrate them in such a personal way.”

Charities on screen

Through over £600,000 funding over a decade, the foundation’s partnership with Media Trust has been matching charities with creative talent from the film industry through the Telling Your Stories project, in which volunteer filmmakers produce inspiring short films highlighting their work.

“We are incredibly proud of our decade-long partnership with City Bridge Foundation,” says Media Trust CEO Su-Mei Thomson. ​“We’re fortunate to work with incredible creative talent looking to use their skills to give something back by creating powerful films that allow audiences to go on someone else’s journey and see the world through their eyes.”

A ​‘second home’ for displaced Ukrainians

One of the more recent City Bridge Foundation grants secured the future of the Ukrainian Welcome Centre, which since being set up in the aftermath of the Russian invasion, has helped thousands of Ukrainians through support services, advice services and cultural activities.

“For Ukrainians who have come to the United Kingdom, the Ukrainian Welcome Centre has become a second home – a true family where you are always warmly welcomed and provided with all kinds of assistance,” says service user Nataliia Chernichenko.

“I would like to express our immense gratitude to City Bridge Foundation for its support for the centre, without which it’s continued existence would have been impossible.”

Image credits: Triangle Adventure Playground, Kiln Theatre Company (Alex Brenner), Brixton Advice Centre, Sign Health, King’s Trust, The Dot Collective, a Media Trust event with City Bridge Foundation, and the Ukrainian Welcome Centre.