London funder awards over £4m to 51 charities changing lives and tackling inequality

The City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, has awarded grants totalling £4.1 million to 51 charities tackling inequality and disadvantage across London in its latest round of funding.

The awards ranged from funding for programmes supporting survivors of sexual abuse, therapy sessions for children with life limiting conditions and community activities to improve the health and wellbeing of older people.

Grants include:

• £138,300 to the WISH Centre in Harrow. The money will go towards expanding the charity’s therapeutic support programme for young people who self-harm.
• £57,000 to Why me? Victims for Restorative Justice in Southwark. The funding is for a project to increase access to restorative justice for victims of hate crime who belong to the LGBTQ community in London.
• £134,100 to Islington People’s Rights. The grant will fund a new project to offer vulnerable people in Islington early welfare and debt advice that can prevent financial problems spiraling out of control.

Alison Gowman, Chair of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust Committee, said: “It’s very exciting to finally start awarding grants under our new Bridging Divides programme, which for the first time allows charities to receive funding for up to five years.

“In this round of funding we have given quite a few grants to projects offering legal advice and support. Many of these organisations are being funded for expansion which demonstrates there is a high demand for such expertise.

“City Bridge Trust is committed to reducing inequality across London, and creating more cohesive communities. Tackling disadvantage across the capital is essential to make London a fairer and better place to live.”

Sally Causer, Executive Director of Southwark Law Centre, which has received a grant of £101,000 for its immigration legal advice work, added:

“Southwark Law Centre provides high quality immigration advice for the most disadvantaged members of the community who have no means to pay for legal advice.

 “The main cause of homelessness and destitution for many migrants is the lack of legal status in the UK.

 “The funding from City Bridge will help Southwark Law Centre to take on some of these complex and long-standing immigration problems, and help tackle destitution in the UK.”

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/brexit-minimart-opened-on-peckham-high-street-selling-conmans-mustard-and-save-our-bacon/23/11/