Funding closing to new applications on Tuesday, 8 October 2024 for one year

Having committed exceptional levels of funding to London’s charitable sector until 2026, we closed our rolling grants programmes to new applications for one year. 

This will allow us to manage our existing grants and pre-closure applications, while reviewing and developing our new funding policy, launching in autumn 2025.

The pause in funding will enable our team to process hundreds of outstanding applications, while they continue to support and work alongside more than 1,150 grant holders.

Organisations which we currently fund will not be affected. New applications received by noon on Tuesday, 8 October 2024 will still be considered.

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

Closing our rolling funding programmes for a year is not a decision we’ve taken lightly. We understand the impact this could have on some organisations. Unfortunately, the recent surge in grant applications means we cannot meet such high levels of demand.

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 have compiled a list of explanatory FAQs which we hope will answer any questions you may have.

To help us manage the significant rise in applications we are prioritising applicants whose work most closely aligns to our mission. We have also introduced new, monthly funding panels to facilitate the decision-making process for our rolling grants programmes.

Our rolling grants programme offers a maximum of five years of continuous funding towards the same project or work. Some organisations will be in receipt of grants lasting less than five years and may intend to apply for continuation funding to extend the duration of their funding.

Please see our FAQs for important criteria and deadlines for continuation funding.

Organisations that have received less than five years of continuous funding may be eligible for an additional one-off core grant for one year of funding. If eligible, such organisations will be contacted and invited to apply.

Recent years have been challenging, with a pandemic, a cost of living crisis and multiple other factors impacting London and its communities. City Bridge Foundation has been able to support the charitable sector with a significant funding boost of £200 million.

This uplift followed a review of our financial reserves and the £200 million was provided on top of our usual funding spend. The additional funding allowed us to raise our approval rate for grant applications to an unprecedented 75 to 90% depending on grant programme.

However, this uplift in expenditure is coming to an end in 2026 and we have to return to normal levels of funding, currently set at £30 million a year. With such high numbers of applications, approval rates will fall.

City Bridge Foundation is in the process of undertaking a wide and far-reaching consultation on its funding policy. The consultation began with a large gathering of invited guests, who joined us for our Envisioning London 2035 event at the Barbican in March 2024.

The feedback gathered from across the sector will shape our new 10-year-funding policy, launching in autumn 2025. Our aim is to be a more flexible and relational funder, with streamlined processes designed to bring us one step closer to applicants and funded organisations. The sector can expect to see a commitment to core and unrestricted funding.

City Bridge Foundation is a 900-year-old charity, which also looks after Tower Bridge and four other Thames bridges: London, Southwark, Millennium and Blackfriars. Our funding is only possible because of sensible management of our centuries-old investment portfolio.

Our primary aim is the management and maintenance of the five bridges, but since 1995 we have been able to use surplus funds to support charitable organisations across Greater London. We will continue to award over £30 million a year to charities across the capital.

We look forward to launching our new funding policy in autumn 2025. Updates will be made on this website, on our social media channels and in the monthly email bulletin sent to organisations we fund.