Bridge to Work

The City Bridge Trust’s Bridge to Work programme aims to tackle the disproportionately high level of unemployment amongst young disabled Londoners. The Trust’s investment of £3.3m over the next 5 years (alongside £1.25m to support people with mental health needs in employment) will support a range of activities to break down the barriers to employment for these 16-30 year olds.

We are offering bursaries for paid internships; access to practical support and guidance for employers and for those seeking work; and we are enabling selected charities with deep experience of the issue to scale up their work and to join together to influence policy and
practice. In addition we recognise the importance of supporting employers to do more with this rich but untapped seam of talent and potential.

Charity partners helping to delivery this programme are Mencap, Inclusion London, Action for Kids, National Autistic Society, Muscular Dystrophy UK and Whizz-Kidz.

The programme has three main aims:

• Supporting disabled people aged 16-30 into paid employment.
• Sustaining disabled people in paid employment – through advice, support and developing good practice.
• Strengthening the links between potential employers and disabled young Londoners, including improving recruitment processes.

City Bridge Trust recognises that the barriers to employment faced by disabled people can be multiple and complex, but many challenges can be overcome with the right support.

Beyond the initial outcomes delivered by the projects supported, the aim is to use learning from these projects to better inform commissioners, policy makers, and other funders.

The full Bridge to Work programme brochure can be downloaded here.

To find out more about the programme, please e-mail James Lee, Bridge to Work Project Manager at: James.Lee@cityoflondon.gov.uk