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Every day in London, people face problems that affect their homes, income, health, safety and futures. From a tenant living with mould and damp who cannot get help with repairs to a disabled person struggling to access the benefits and support they need. From a family trying to secure the financial support they rely on to a person navigating a complex immigration system on their own.

Too often, these challenges reflect wider barriers that make it hard for people to access their rights, secure fair treatment, and obtain the right help. These barriers are reinforced by policies, practices, and institutions that are difficult to navigate, slow to respond, or that fail people.

Access to free, accredited social welfare advice is essential for people living in London who face poverty, homelessness, debt, complex legal issues, benefit denials, or discrimination. The right support empowers people to navigate social systems, prevents crises from escalating, and challenges the root causes of inequality and systemic injustice.

We believe that structural systems change comes from tackling inequality through social action, advocacy, strong community leadership and the expertise of lived experience. We’re funding organisations who use their frontline experience and community insights not only to resolve urgent issues but also to improve services, influence decision-makers and challenge the social systems that create injustice.

Access to Justice sits within our ten-year funding policy, Standing with Londoners. As London’s largest independent funder, we’re continually learning from the organisations, communities and partners we work with and our funding will continue to evolve in response to emerging needs and opportunities. 

We are not currently receiving applications.

We’ll share details of future funding opportunities on this page as they’re confirmed.

In May 2026, we awarded £6.5m of funding to 20 organisations across London in round one. 

We’re currently supporting the funded cohort and capturing what we’ve learned to inform future programme development. We are not accepting new applications. More information about future funding will be available soon. 

Our Access to Justice team assesses applications and manages grants, working closely with applicants, funded organisations and partners, to strengthen our funding offer. Together, we gather feedback and identify emerging trends and opportunities across the sector.

Meet the Access to Justice team

• Stella-May Brown, Programme and Partnerships Lead
• Susanne Bjork, Programme and Partnerships Manager 
• Toral Shah, Programme and Partnerships Manager

In the first round of this programme in 2025–26, we supported organisations led by and working with the communities most affected by social welfare injustice in London. These organisations provide free, accredited advice on housing, welfare benefits, debt, employment, and immigration. They include:

• Community-led organisations
• Relevant sector groups
• Organisations working towards systems change (and they can demonstrate this)

You can download the Funding Guidelines here: 

We support organisations offering free social welfare advice in London who are engaged in social action and systems change work, i.e. they help people resolve urgent issues and work with their communities to challenge the structures and attitudes that sustain inequality. These organisations are:

• Delivering free accredited social welfare advice AND engaging in social action and systems change, or having the ambition to begin this work
• Working for the benefit of people living in London in one or more of the following areas: housing, welfare benefits, debt, employment and immigration

News update July 2026

We publish supporting documents from previous rounds to be transparent about how our programmes operate and to help organisations prepare for future funding opportunities. These documents are programme-specific and may be updated before the next round opens.

For each programme, we usually offer a webinar and pre-application calls, followed by a two-stage application process with time for constructive feedback; however, this may vary by programme. 

We are not currently open for applications. We’ll update this page as new funding opportunities are confirmed and share updates through our newsletter and .

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If you have any questions regarding this programme or future funding rounds, please contact us: funding@citybridgefoundation.org.uk or 020 7332 3710.