The City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, has awarded grants totalling £1,546,084 to charities and organisations tackling inequality and disadvantage across London this month.

The grants include £102,000 to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) for the salary of a Stepping Stone Homes Manager who will provide refuge for women whose relationship with someone in the military has broken down; £200,000 to Bipolar UK towards the costs of its eCommunity for individuals and families affected by bipolar; and £107,114 to Upper Room towards the salary and project costs of its UR4Driving Project, which helps ex-offenders improve their employment chances.

City Bridge Trust also announced the award of a further £150,000 to London Youth for the continuation of its London Youth Quality Mark Awards scheme until 2018.

Alison Gowman, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust Committee, said:

“It is fantastic to be able to announce that over £1.5million of grants has been awarded to such a wide variety of charities this month. We are committed to supporting Londoners to make their city a fairer place to work and live.

“We fund a broad range of work focused on tackling disadvantage in London: from improving Londoners’ mental health to services that strengthen London’s voluntary sector. City Bridge Trust awards around £20 million annually to charities across London to support and develop their services which are helping hundreds of thousands of people every year.”

Michael Buraimoh, Operations Director at Upper Room, added:

“We are delighted to have been awarded a three-year grant for our UR4Driving project. UR4Driving improves the employability of ex-offenders by giving them the motivation and practical skills necessary to find employment and thus break the cycle of re-offending and long-term unemployment.

“The grant will part-fund salary costs on the project as well as contribute towards the running costs. Apart from helping us provide ex-offenders with the opportunity to turn their lives around, the City Bridge Trust grant will also help us to deliver indirect social outcomes to the wider society through fewer victims of crime.

“The Upper Room is an organisation committed to improving the lives of ex-offenders. Our projects focus on giving socially and economically disadvantaged people the tools or skills they need to improve their lives and build positive futures.”

City Bridge Trust is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital. The Trust has awarded around 7,500 grants totalling over £350 million since it first began in 1995. It helps achieve the Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners

ENDS

Kristina Drake

Media Officer, City of London Corporation

Kristina.Drake@cityoflondon.gov.uk

07710860884 / 020 7332 1125