# Grants for charities in London: boroughs, City funders and what closes soon

London charities have three large London-only funders in City Bridge Foundation, Trust for London and The London Community Foundation, plus livery company and borough trusts, on top of UK-wide schemes. What closes soon.

- Author: OpenGrant
- Topic: [Funding by place](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/category/funding-by-place)
- Published: 2026-10-26
- Updated: 2026-10-26
- Source sites checked: 2026-10-26
- Canonical URL: https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grants-for-charities-in-london
- Part of: [How to find grants for a UK charity: the complete guide](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/charity-grants-uk)

## Key facts

- OpenGrant listed 155 open, rolling and forthcoming schemes for charities and community groups in London on 26 October 2026, 11 London-specific, from 77 funders; 33 closed within 30 days and 48 were rolling.
- City Bridge Foundation has published 4,709 grants worth £505 million with a typical recent grant of £50,000; its Economic Justice round of five-year core grants of £150,000 to £450,000 closed at noon on 3 November 2026.
- Trust for London gives around £10 million a year to work on poverty and inequality in London, accepts applications on a rolling basis and decides in three to four months; its typical recent published grant was £7,500.
- The London Community Foundation had three funds closing between 28 October and 4 November 2026, including the Wimbledon Foundation Community Fund (up to £10,000); its typical recent grant was £9,908.
- John Lyon's Charity (1,798 published grants, £97.2 million, median £37,500) and the Mercers' Company (around £10 million a year) fund children, young people and communities in defined parts of London.
- National Lottery Awards for All England gives £300 to £20,000 anywhere in London with a decision in 16 weeks, and most London boroughs run small grants programmes of their own.

London charities have what no other English region has: three large funders that give only in the capital, City Bridge Foundation, Trust for London and The London Community Foundation, plus livery company and borough trusts, on top of the UK-wide schemes open everywhere. On 26 October 2026 OpenGrant listed 155 schemes for London charities, 33 closing within 30 days.

## The shape of London funding

London is the City and 32 boroughs, regulated like the rest of England and Wales by the Charity Commission, with no devolved funder of its own. What it has instead is wealth with a charitable purpose attached: the City of London's bridge endowment, livery company charities, parish and borough trusts centuries old, and a community foundation that channels corporate and public money. The result is that a London charity's prospect list has a regional layer that is unusually rich at the top, with grants of £50,000 to £450,000 from City funders, and thin in the middle compared with counties whose community foundations run dozens of small funds.

Of the 155 schemes open to charities and community groups in London on 26 October 2026, 145 were open, 10 forthcoming and 48 rolling; of the 99 with a stated maximum, 57 were £100,000 or more and only 12 under £10,000. The small-grant layer is national: the [National Lottery Community Fund](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/national-lottery-community-fund) and the borough schemes that appear as they are published.

## City Bridge Foundation

[City Bridge Foundation](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/city-bridge-foundation), registered charity 1035628, is the City of London Corporation's charity. Its register entry describes its purpose as the maintenance of London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge, with surplus income used for charitable purposes benefiting Greater London. The register shows income of £42.6 million and spending of £121 million in its latest year. Its 360Giving data on OpenGrant showed 4,709 grants worth £505 million, a typical recent grant of £50,000, 86% of recent grants to registered charities and all of them marked as from an open call.

Its funding policy, Standing with Londoners, launched in 2025 and runs for ten years with a focus on social justice. On 26 October 2026 two programmes were open. [Economic Justice](https://opengrant.co.uk/opportunities/1c51c627-15a8-41b6-8d60-7f6fc6e1bd9f), described as Communities Building Economic Change, offered five-year [core](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/core-funding) and flexible grants of £150,000 to £450,000 to small and medium-sized organisations with annual income of £50,000 to £1.5 million rooted in communities experiencing economic injustice, closing at 12 noon on 3 November 2026, with applicants told whether they progress to stage two by 11 January 2027 and final decisions by 16 March 2027. The Social Investment Fund for London, £22 million of social investment for established social purpose organisations, was open on a rolling basis. A Racial Justice programme was listed as opening in 2026, and Access to Justice and Climate and Environmental Justice were closed. The foundation's earlier policy, Bridging Divides, still supports over 800 live grants but is not open to new applications.

## Trust for London

[Trust for London](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/trust-for-london), registered charity 205629, has funded work for a fairer city since 1891 and describes itself as one of London's largest funders, distributing around £10 million a year to organisations fighting poverty and inequality. The register shows income of £10.7 million and spending of £16.1 million. Its 360Giving data showed 1,457 grants worth £98.8 million with a typical recent grant of £7,500 and awards from £347 to £4.8 million, 89% to registered charities, under programme names including Decent Living Standards and Tackling the Housing Crisis.

It funds under two aims, economic justice (decent work, social security, the poverty premium, housing) and social justice (migrant destitution, racial justice, disability justice), with project and unrestricted grants. [Its scheme record](https://opengrant.co.uk/opportunities/119270e4-8c0d-4c40-b5f4-88d177ad9ebc) on OpenGrant showed a rolling programme up to £250,000. The apply page on 26 October 2026 said applications are accepted on a rolling basis for most priority areas, that applicants should read the guidelines, complete an eligibility quiz and book a short call with a grant manager, that shortlisting decisions come within two months and final decisions three to four months after a second-stage application, that grants over £250,000 go to trustees, and that organisations may apply once a year and should wait 12 months after an unsuccessful application.

## The London Community Foundation

[The London Community Foundation](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/london-community-foundation), registered charity 1091263, is the capital's [community foundation](https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary/community-foundation), funding work on child poverty, unemployment, isolation, homelessness, domestic violence and gang crime. The register shows income of £9.33 million and spending of £10.3 million. Its 360Giving data showed 1,002 grants worth £12.8 million with a typical recent grant of £9,908 and, unusually among London funders, 62% of recent grants to companies or CICs and 31% to registered charities.

On 26 October 2026 OpenGrant listed three live funds, all closing within nine days: the [Wimbledon Foundation Community Fund](https://opengrant.co.uk/opportunities/c588cc98-2d18-4fb6-9d5f-09e4d14c4a94), up to £10,000 for Merton and Wandsworth, closing 28 October; the [MOPAC Victims Small Grants Fund 2027 to 2029](https://opengrant.co.uk/opportunities/adf7f7a1-ab2b-4a8b-818f-bab0db0badba) for smaller community-based and specialist organisations across London, closing 2 November at 2pm; and the [MOPAC Violence Against Women and Girls Grassroots Fund 2027 to 2030](https://opengrant.co.uk/opportunities/03b5970d-0f8e-40a8-840b-d4a8033f5d91), closing 4 November at 2pm. The foundation's grants page listed fifteen funds across three pages, so new rounds appear through the year.

## Livery company and borough trusts

London's older charities fund by place. [John Lyon's Charity](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/john-lyons-charity), registered charity 237725, funds children and young people in defined boroughs; its 360Giving data showed 1,798 grants worth £97.2 million with a typical recent grant of £37,500 under programmes including Main Grant, School Holiday Activity Fund and Arts in Schools Grant, and the register shows income of £11.6 million and spending of £24.3 million. It had no open scheme in OpenGrant's sources on 26 October 2026; its website lists its programmes and boroughs.

The [Mercers' Company](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/mercers-company) says it distributes approximately £10 million a year across its programmes and expects to support around 180 charities annually. Two of its programmes were rolling on OpenGrant: Church and Communities, for community and faith-based organisations in Greater London (and Lincolnshire, Norfolk and the North East) building stronger communities and supporting families and carers, and Older People and Housing, for not-for-profits in London and Norfolk supporting older people facing loneliness or poverty. Its Young People and Education programme covers early years, literacy, school transitions and young people's mental health in Greater London.

Borough-based trusts such as the [Walcot Foundation](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/walcot-foundation) in Lambeth, and funders such as the [London Marathon Foundation](https://opengrant.co.uk/funders/london-marathon-foundation), add further London-only money. For trusts with no website, the accounts on the charity register state the boroughs and causes they fund; [how to read a grant-making trust's accounts](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-read-a-grant-making-trusts-accounts) is the method.

## National programmes open in London

[National Lottery Awards for All England](https://opengrant.co.uk/opportunities/5bfc35a3-72d1-4843-ba3b-6d56df6ad7d7) gives £300 to £20,000 for projects lasting up to two years, open all year with a decision in 16 weeks, to constituted groups, charities, CIOs, CICs and statutory bodies with two unrelated committee members; [how to apply to Awards for All England](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-apply-to-national-lottery-awards-for-all-england) covers it. Reaching Communities England gives £20,001 or more with a decision in 40 weeks. The national trusts fund in London as everywhere: Garfield Weston Foundation accepts applications all year, Esmée Fairbairn takes rolling expressions of interest from organisations with turnover over £100,000, and Henry Smith Foundation runs programme windows. The [complete guide to charity grants](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/charity-grants-uk) covers the full national picture.

## Boroughs, City Hall and infrastructure

Most of the 32 boroughs run small grants or voluntary sector programmes, published on council websites and signposted by each borough's council for voluntary service, which London Plus networks through its London CVS Network and London Volunteer Centre Network. The Greater London Authority funds civil society programmes, often through intermediaries including the community foundation. Borough and City Hall schemes appear on the [London page](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/in/london) as they are published in OpenGrant's sources.

## What closed in early November 2026

Between 28 October and 4 November 2026 the London-specific deadlines were the Wimbledon Foundation Community Fund (28 October), the MOPAC Victims Small Grants Fund (2 November), City Bridge Foundation's Economic Justice round (3 November, noon) and the MOPAC Violence Against Women and Girls Grassroots Fund (4 November). The [November 2026 deadlines page](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11) lists the 129 schemes closing that month across the UK, and [UK grants closing this month](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grants-closing-this-month-uk) explains how to use the monthly pages. Rolling programmes from Trust for London, the Mercers' Company and City Bridge's Social Investment Fund had no deadline.

## Where to look next

The [charities in London page](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities/in/london) lists every open, rolling and forthcoming scheme in OpenGrant's sources for charities and community groups in the capital, soonest deadline first, and the [London page](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/in/london) adds business and public body schemes. For [core funding](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/core-funding-for-charities), City Bridge's five-year grants and Trust for London's unrestricted grants are the two London-only routes. Counts and funder facts in this guide were taken on 26 October 2026 and will change; each page shows its own last-verified date.

## Frequently asked questions

### What grants are open for charities in London now?

On 26 October 2026 OpenGrant listed 155 open, rolling and forthcoming schemes for charities and community groups in London, 33 closing within 30 days. London-specific schemes included City Bridge Foundation's Economic Justice round (closing 3 November), Trust for London's rolling programme (up to £250,000), three London Community Foundation funds closing by 4 November, and the Mercers' Company's rolling Church and Communities and Older People and Housing programmes.

### Who are the biggest funders of London charities?

City Bridge Foundation, the City of London Corporation's charity, which has published 4,709 grants worth £505 million; Trust for London, which gives around £10 million a year to work on poverty and inequality; and The London Community Foundation, the capital's community foundation. Livery company charities such as the Mercers' Company, John Lyon's Charity for children and young people in nine boroughs, and the National Lottery Community Fund fund across the capital too.

### How does City Bridge Foundation funding work?

Through programmes under its ten-year Standing with Londoners policy, launched in 2025. On 26 October 2026 the Economic Justice programme offered five-year core and flexible grants of £150,000 to £450,000 to organisations with income of £50,000 to £1.5 million, closing at noon on 3 November 2026, with final decisions by 16 March 2027. A Social Investment Fund for London was open on a rolling basis and a Racial Justice programme was due to open in 2026.

### How do I apply to Trust for London?

Read the funding guidelines, complete the eligibility quiz, then book a short call with a grant manager through the priority area page that fits your work. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis for most priority areas. You can expect a shortlisting decision within two months and a final decision three to four months after a second-stage application, may apply once a year, and should wait 12 months after an unsuccessful application.

### Can a small unregistered group in London get a grant?

Yes. National Lottery Awards for All England accepts constituted groups with two unrelated committee members, most London Community Foundation funds accept constituted groups with a bank account, and borough small grants programmes often do too. City Bridge Foundation and Trust for London mainly fund established organisations. Our guide to grants without registered charity status covers the patterns.

### Where do I find London borough grants?

On each borough council's website, usually under community or voluntary sector funding, and through the borough's council for voluntary service, which London Plus networks across the capital. Borough schemes appear on OpenGrant's London pages when they are published in its sources. The Greater London Authority also funds civil society programmes, usually through intermediaries such as the community foundation.

## Find grants

- [Grants for charities and community groups in London](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities/in/london) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities/in/london.md)
- [Grants in London](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/in/london) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/in/london.md)
- [Grant deadlines in November 2026](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11) (Markdown: https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/deadlines/2026-11.md)
- [Browse grants for charities in London](https://opengrant.co.uk/grants/for/charities/in/london)

## Related guides

- [UK grants closing this month: how to find them and apply in time](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/grants-closing-this-month-uk): 138 UK grant schemes had October 2026 deadlines and 121 close in November 2026. How to see what closes when, decide which are worth a late application, and avoid the traps.
- [How to apply to National Lottery Awards for All England: eligibility, amounts and decision time](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/how-to-apply-to-national-lottery-awards-for-all-england): National Lottery Awards for All England gives £300 to £20,000 for community projects lasting up to two years, with no deadline and a decision in 16 weeks. Who can apply and how.
- [Core funding for charities: what it covers and how to apply](https://opengrant.co.uk/blog/core-funding-for-charities): Understand core funding for UK charities, how it differs from project funding, and how to prepare a clear running-cost request with a worked example.

## Sources and further reading

- [City Bridge Foundation: Funding](https://www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/funding)
- [City Bridge Foundation: Economic Justice](https://www.citybridgefoundation.org.uk/funding/economic-justice)
- [Trust for London: About](https://trustforlondon.org.uk/about/)
- [Trust for London: Apply for funding](https://trustforlondon.org.uk/funding/apply-for-funding)
- [The London Community Foundation: Grants](https://londoncf.org.uk/grants)
- [The Mercers' Company: Grants](https://www.mercers.co.uk/grants)
- [London Plus](https://londonplus.org/)
- [The National Lottery Community Fund: Awards for All England](https://www.tnlcommunityfund.org.uk/funding/funding-programmes/national-lottery-awards-for-all-england)

All guides: https://opengrant.co.uk/blog.md · Glossary: https://opengrant.co.uk/glossary.md · Agent index: https://opengrant.co.uk/llms-guides.txt