City Bridge Foundation Small Grants

With these grants, we want to give smaller organisations easier access to funding in the following five strands:

1) Environmental, greening and growing

2) Working with older people

3) Working with Deaf and Disabled people

4) Working with the LGBTQIA+ community

5) Working with migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers

Wherever possible, we seek to fund organisations and projects that actively involve the communities they serve when designing their services. We also seek to fund organisations and projects where the majority of staff and/​or leaders have direct, lived experience of the organisation’s area of work.

Grant details

• Area: Greater London
• Open to: New and previous applicants
• Deadline: Applications accepted on a rolling basis
• Funding length: Up to five years
• Funding size: Up to £20,000 per year for a maximum of five years
• Average award: Based on grants made to date, we have awarded between £1,500 and £50,000, the average award size has been £18,000*

*These figures are illustrative. You can find out more about our approach to funding here.

Additional points on eligibility

Working with Deaf and Disabled people

Please note that the following groups of people are eligible:

• Deaf and Disabled people
• People with specific diagnoses of mental health conditions that could be considered a disability

General wellbeing projects that do not work with one of the above groups are not eligible.

Working with LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Ace) communities

Applications and work under this strand can be for pan-LGBTQIA+ communities (that is, for the benefit of all communities that fall under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella) and/​or work that targets a specific part of the wider LGBTQIA+ community, such as queer women.

We are particularly keen to hear from organisations and Voluntary Constituted Organisations that are led by and for LGBTQIA+ people (by ​“led by and for”, we mean a majority of your board/​committee and senior staff are LGBTQIA+, or you are working towards growing the LGBTQIA+ leadership in your organisation).

We are also interested in funding trans-specific organisations and projects to further reach trans communities in London. We also welcome applications from organisations that take an intersectional approach to addressing issues that disproportionately affect LGBTQIA+ people (By ​“intersectional”, we mean work that seeks to support people who experience multiple forms of marginalisation e.g. LGBTQIA+ people of colour).

Examples of work:

• A youth organisation developing an advisory board to support young LGBTQIA+ people of colour to develop social and leadership skills.
• An older people’s lunch club targeting trans people over 60 to combat isolation.
• A peer support group for LGBTQIA+ people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in London.

Working with older people

There is no specific age criteria for what is considered ​“older people”, but the project / organisation must be explicitly targeted towards older people.

Applicants are encouraged to showcase how their project addresses the unique requirements of older people, enhances their well-being, fosters social inclusion, or caters to their specific interests and concerns.

Detailed discussions regarding the project’s alignment with the older population’s needs and benefits will take place during the assessment process.

About the funding

To apply, your organisation’s annual income must be less than £200,000

Grants are awarded up to £20,000 per year for a maximum of five years and can cover project funding and/​or core funding.

A grant cannot amount to more than 50% of an organisation’s turnover / income in any one year. Organisations must be able to provide at least one set of legally compliant accounts.

Applicants can seek core funding from the Small Grants programme providing all the organisation’s work is eligible for the funding criteria they have applied for (eg 100% of the organisation’s work is focused on greening and growing or another of the funding streams).

Eligible organisation structures

The following types of organisations can apply for the Small Grants programme:

• Registered charity
• Registered Community Interest Company (CIC) limited by guarantee
• Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation
• Charitable company
• Exempt or excepted charity
• Registered charitable industrial and provident society or charitable community benefit society (BenCom)
• Constituted voluntary organisation (this is specific to the Small Grants programme, Constituted voluntary organisations are not eligible for other City Bridge Foundation funding)