Making London More Liveable

You can find out more about our approach to funding here 

We want to fund continuation or expansion of existing work which reduces isolation and enables people living and working in Greater London to feel closer to their community.

We want to support people who are most at risk of suicide. The fund will be targeted at organisations working with people where research and evidence shows there is most need for support. We particularly want to support:

1. Middle-aged men experiencing deprivation. By deprivation, we mean low income and lack of access to resources and opportunities.
2. People in moments of transition, including:
   1. Pregnant women and new mothers
   2. People leaving prison or coming into the criminal justice system
   3. People leaving care
   4. People on waiting lists for mental or physical health services

We will prioritise applications where organisations show that they support people experiencing more than one different risk factor for suicide at the same time. For example:

• Pregnant women and new mothers who are also survivors of abuse
• Autistic people who are also on waiting lists for mental health services
• Middle-aged men experiencing deprivation who also have substance misuse issues
• People in the criminal justice system who have previously self-harmed
• People leaving care who also identify as LGBTQ+

This is not an exhaustive list, and we are open to hearing from applicants who support other groups evidenced to be at risk of suicide. Please get in touch if you are unsure whether you are eligible.

Successful applicants will demonstrate how the people who take part in their activities make decisions about the delivery of services.

Examples of work we will support include:

• Peer support services
• Men’s Sheds
• Crisis Cafés
• Creative activities, such as film-making workshops, knitting or performing arts
• Walking groups

We will prioritise applications from organisations with an annual income below £500,000.

As part of our commitment to suicide prevention, all successful applicants will be provided with suicide prevention training as part of their grant. We recognise that suicide prevention may not be the main activity of successful organisations, and we wish to help build staff capacity and knowledge. 

Successful organisations will also be able to access the range of free support and services to increase funded organisations’ capacity, resilience and sustainability that we offer through our Funder Plus programmes.

We will also be engaging a learning partner for this programme who will support successful organisations to network, share learning and develop their monitoring and evaluation processes relating to this work. Funded organisations will be expected to engage with the learning partner on a biannual basis.

This will be discussed further with applicants as part of the assessment process.

We will not fund counselling, talking therapies or psychotherapy through this strand. If you would like to access funding for these activities, then please look at our funding for mental health services.

We will not fund provision of legal advice and support through this strand. If you would like to access funding for these activities, then please look at our funding services targeted at provision of advice and support for disadvantaged individuals.

The application form for this programme will open on Tuesday, 2 April 2024 and will close at 5pm on Friday, 31 May 2024.

We held two pre-application webinars to answer questions on the programme. These are no longer available. 

If you were unable to attend a webinar, we are trialling pre-application support calls with City Bridge Foundation’s Funding Managers.

These calls are only being offered as part of this programme and are not available for our main grants programme. Each organisation can only have one pre-application call to talk about its application to Making London More Liveable.

Pre-application calls will be 15 minutes long and are available in April and May 2024.

When we have received your online application and all supporting documents, your application will be reviewed by our team. Applications will first be shortlisted according to the application criteria. Shortlisted applications will go through a detailed assessment over the summer and grants will be announced in the autumn.

Final decisions will be informed by a panel comprising of members of the City Bridge Foundation team and members of a group formed of people with lived experience of suicidal thoughts and behaviour, or bereavement by suicide.

We expect to receive many applications for this programme, and we will not be able to fund all organisations who meet the funding criteria. We expect to fund around 30 applications. The shortlisting panel will prioritise applications based on:

• How far your work reduces isolation and enables people to feel more connected to a community.
• Whether the majority of the people you support experience a combination of factors putting them more at risk of suicide.
• How far your organisation is community-led and whether people who use your services can meaningfully take part in decision making.
• How far your organisation understands and prioritises safeguarding.
• The size of your organisation – we will prioritise applications from organisations with an income below £500,000.
• Ensuring a diverse portfolio of grants supporting a range of different communities across London.

As part of your application, you will need to submit:

• Your organisation’s constitution or governing document
• A copy of your most recently signed accounts
• Your organisation’s safeguarding policy
• A draft budget that shows the total funding you are requesting (up to five years) using a template which we will supply.

Making London More Liveable is part of City Bridge Foundation’s Suicide Prevention funding programme. The programme has two strands:

1. Making London More Liveable – live and open for applications

2. Strategic Partnership Funding – not yet open for applications