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The Bridge Programme

Free bespoke support for our grant holders

Through our trusted network of specialist organisations and partners, we offer a variety of free, additional support to every organisation we fund via our Bridge Programme.


What’s included on this page:

Customised support

All support we offer is tailored to your organisation’s circumstances and needs.

These needs might include:

  • organisational development
  • governance
  • fundraising
  • business planning

Types of training

We offer a range of support including:

  • attendance of training courses and/​or conferences
  • group learning via webinars and/​or peer networks for grantees experiencing shared issues
  • signposting and referrals to trusted development and support services
  • bespoke one-on-one consultancy on an agreed issue or clearly defined task

Eligibility

To be eligible your organisation must have received funding from one of the following:

  • City Bridge Foundation
  • London Community Response Fund
  • City of London Corporation’s Central Grants Programme

The on-boarding process

  • applying: you’ll be asked to detail the work your organisation does and to outline the support you need in a simple online form
  • assessment: if you’re eligible, a member of the programme team will assess your needs
  • customisation: through a process of discussion and further diagnosis we’ll draw up a tailored support plan

Making the most of the Bridge programme

To ensure your organisation benefits from the programme takes:

  • commitment: you’ll need to set aside time to fully engage with both the on-boarding process and for the duration of the proposed support
  • openness: the programme team may need additional information to make sure they fully understand your organisation’s position
  • collaboration: including your colleagues, volunteers, users and/​or trustees invariably increases the impact and effectiveness of the support

For more information and to apply, contact the Bridge Programme at funderplus@citybridgefoundation.org.uk

Interested in joining the Bridge Programme as a service provider?

We are constantly looking to increase the quality and range of support we offer to grantees through our Bridge programme network. Please get in touch if you:

  • provide services to build organisation’s strength and resilience
  • are interested in improving the quality and uptake of support for civil society

The Bridge programme is:

  • diagnostic-based: the programme is guided by self-assessment and triage, with delivery partners providing support independently
  • educational: the programme sets out to boost grantees’ awareness of and skill in navigating the amazing ecology of support that exists for civil society in London
  • demand-led: solutions must be needs-based and we recognise the power of peer support for problem solving and sourcing solutions
  • network-driven: we seek delivery providers that will welcome the opportunity for collective reflection, learning and problem solving
  • collaborative: we expect the organisations in our network to work with openness, both with other funders and with fellow delivery partner organisations

If you would like to register with the Bridge Programme as a support provider, please register here.

The main issues and themes our delivery partners currently address are:

  • governance – to include a focus on Mission, Purpose & Values plus support around organisational culture & leadership
  • planning – to include areas such as working in a complex environment
  • leadership and management – to include a focus on Mission, Purpose & Values plus (possibly) support around organisational culture & leadership
  • user-centred service – how do you enable co-production to be at the heart of your activity
  • managing people – to include a focus on Mission, Purpose & Values plus (possibly) support around organisational culture & leadership
  • learning and development – to include systems thinking
  • managing money – the emphasis here should be on organisational sustainability and medium to long term financial planning
  • managing resources – the emphasis here should be on organisational sustainability and medium to long term planning
  • managing property – to include accessibility, health and safety, and environmental considerations, as well as repairs and maintenance
  • digital products – to include their role in the design of user-centred services;
  • external communications – to include speaking truth to power and co-production
  • working with others – to include a focus on Mission, Purpose & Values and to ask the big question around the fulfilment of charitable purpose –​“does my organisation need to exist?”
  • assessing outcomes and impact – to include active consideration of​‘your place’ in the [appropriate] ecology and system and a focus on​‘collective impact’

However, this is not an exhaustive list, and organisations’ needs change over time. Additional interventions we consider:

  • backfilling capacity in an organisation to enable key staff to attend conferences, networking events, training or action learning sets, for example
  • one-to-one mentoring
  • resource to enable peer to peer support/​shared learning amongst organisations
  • facilitated coffee trials to spark ideas

If you’d like to help us shape how we deliver support to our funded organisations, help us test what good​‘diagnostics’,​‘connecting’ and​‘support’ look like and to share our learning as the programme develops please get in touch.

Who’s behind it?

City Bridge Foundation coordinates and manages the programme and its web processes. Locality and Cranfield Trust conduct diagnostics, connect grantees with delivery partners, and hold funding to cover costs for providers.

Want to know more?