London’s biggest independent charity funder has launched a new 10-year funding policy focused on tackling the inequality and injustice that blights the capital.

City Bridge Foundation says the new policy, Standing With Londoners, will position it as a social justice funder, with a sharper focus on tackling the root causes of inequality.

The foundation has awarded over £840 million in 30 years of funding London’s charity sector, including an extra £200 million funding which supported the sector through Covid and the cost-of-living crisis.

The additional funding is now drawing to an end, and as a result it paused funding last year, until a new policy was formed.

The new policy, drawn up following a year of engagement, research and consultation, will offer long-term, core funding as a default, and unrestricted funding where possible, alongside other innovations such as pre-application phone calls to simplify the process.

Standing With Londoners will focus on four key areas: delivering climate justice, access to justice - including supporting people to access their rights and find solutions to a range of problems; tackling racial injustice; and addressing economic inequality.

The policy, which will prioritise funding for community-led organisations, will build on the foundation’s long-standing commitment to infrastructure and capacity building support and seek to boost support for advocacy, community organising and policy change.

It will continue to assess and award grants under the old funding policy until summer 2025, while supporting over 1,400 organisations through active grants.

Sacha Rose-Smith, City Bridge Foundation chief funding director, said: “London has changed hugely in recent years as a result of the issues the capital has faced, and we need to change too, standing in solidarity with organisations working to deliver change.

“Our funding has had a huge impact in meeting the needs of Londoners for 30 years, but the changes the capital has seen, and the fact our extra £200 million uplift is coming to an end, means we need to focus our resources to deliver maximum impact.

“While we will continue to fund some work which address the immediate needs of Londoners, there will be a much greater emphasis – in response to a long-standing call from the sector – on tackling the root causes and systemic factors which enable inequality and injustice to prevail.

“Our ambitious 10-year policy marks an exciting new chapter in our journey as a social justice funder, working collaboratively with our partners to leverage change and standing shoulder to shoulder with Londoners to make the capital a fairer place.”

The foundation will work with sector partners to design and deliver the first funding programme under the new policy, which it hopes to launch in the autumn, with others to follow next year.

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