What we do
Connecting communities and building partnerships for a fairer London
Our key areas of work include:
About our work
City Bridge Foundation was established over 900 years ago and now manages and maintains five of London’s city Bridges, at no cost to the taxpayer. We are powered through property and financial investments, initially supported and funded by mediaeval Londoners to maintain the first stone London Bridge.
Funds surplus to the Bridges’ needs are distributed each year to organisations that are working for a fairer, greener Capital — via our funding team.
Through all of our work, we want to see a flourishing society, where every person in London is truly connected — physically by world-class, sustainable bridges — and socially and digitally through thriving communities that have access to a diversity of social, cultural and economic opportunities.
Our longevity, diverse charitable purposes, large asset base and historic relationship with our corporate Trustee (the City of London Corporation), places us in a unique position to achieve our vision of ‘every person in London becoming truly connected’.
Note: City Bridge Foundation is the working name of the historic Bridge House Estates.
Bridging London
Our Bridging London strategy provides the framework for our activities and the collective impact we seek to deliver.
Firstly, through our maintenance and support for our five bridges and secondly through our charitable funding and activities — which are aimed at tackling inequality and disadvantage across Greater London.
These two activities are enabled through the careful stewardship of our portfolio of investments.
How we deliver our work
Taking a values led approach
To achieve our vision, we deliver our charitable objectives by committing to a values-led approach of being:
- Catalytic: acting as a catalyst for positive change in London through exemplary delivery of our activities and through our convening and influencing role
- Sustainable: delivering our activities and managing all of assets in the most sustainable, ethical and responsible ways possible
- Impact driven: placing learning and impact at the heart of all that we do to ensure we achieve positive impact at scale, now and in the future
We have made ambitious and growing commitments to climate action, alongside other issues such as social mobility, modern slavery, diversity and inclusion.
We are committed to radical climate action: in our bridges, our charitable activities and across our property and investment portfolio.
Our joint Climate Action Strategy with our Trustee (the City of London Corporation), sets out how we will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040, build climate resilience and champion sustainable growth.
In 2021 we created our first Race Action Plan, and set up a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion working group to deliver agreed actions to tackle racial injustice. We also awarded a strategic grant for research and development to the Baobab Foundation, a new organisation led by the black and ethnic minority organisations it supports.