Bridges Impact Foundation

The Foundation prioritises three broad areas: building sustainable impact investing infrastructure; venture philanthropy for high-impact social ventures and charities tackling youth mental health and gender-based violence; and enabling Bridges staff charitable activities through matched giving. It also supports scalable initiatives such as the Bridges Social Entrepreneurs Fund, Impact Frontiers training for investors, and the Turner MIINT programme. The focus is on capacity-building and systems-level change to address unequal opportunity. Work is primarily UK-based but designed to be globally extensible, and the Foundation supports a mix of project, organisational, and core costs, including market innovation. Across these areas, it funds both social and environmental causes, with particular attention to underserved communities, youth, and women.

UK-registered charities and social enterprises are eligible, with a preference for medium-to-large organisations able to demonstrate strong mission alignment and real impact potential. The Foundation prioritises groups working with underserved people and the planet, including on youth mental health, women and girls, and environmental causes. There are no strict income thresholds, and while the main geographic focus is the UK, organisations with cross-border or globally scalable activity are also considered. The Foundation has no religious restriction and is open to both secular and faith-based applicants within its priority themes.

The Foundation does not support broad social causes that fall outside its priority themes of sustainable impact investing, youth mental health, gender-based violence, and matched giving for staff charitable activities. It also tends to avoid areas where commercial investment is already working well, preferring to fund gaps in the market. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications; funding is discretionary and identified via strategic partnerships rather than open calls or portals.

Funding is discretionary and identified through strategic partnerships, with no unsolicited applications or public portals. The Foundation provides catalytic support for projects, organisations, and market innovation, often as core funding, and aims to add value by unlocking further capital. It also runs a matched-giving scheme for Bridges staff charitable activities, and its venture philanthropy approach means it works closely with grantees and partners to amplify impact.