News

Leadership and Reconciliation reception at Mansion House

On 19 June 2007, in the magnificent surroundings of the Mansion House, the Rt Hon The Lord Mayor Alderman John Stuttard hosted an evening reception for The City Bridge Trust. Following the tragic events of 7 July 2005, when London was changed forever, the Trust determined to do what it could.The bombings had a profound and immediate effect upon the lives of all Londoners. They also brought to light a complex set of issues around social and cultural identity which cannot readily be resolved.

In December 2005, The City Bridge Trust hosted an open-discussion event The London Bombings - what next? which sought to identify what the grant-making community's response should be to the situation in which London then found itself.

We reflected carefully on the messages from that discussion which focused very much around the need for a greater investment in London's young people. Our response is the Leadership and Reconciliation Initiative, a £1m grants programme working in three distinct but inter-related fields:

• developing young people's leadership skills
• transforming or resolving conflict
• increasing the understanding between communities

The Initiative was launched in September 2006, to co-incide with London Week of Peace, which the City of London Corporation fully supports. The aim was to help organisations already working in one of these areas and who showed a keen willingness to have their work evaluated, to share their experiences with others and to learn. As a result, 21 grants were awarded for work which will have begun by September 2007.

Trevor Phillips OBE, Chair of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, commented that the results of the work these organisations undertake could hopefully be used by his organisation to help influence government policies and future social policy agendas.

Our expectation of the reception was to start the process of engagement between the groups for their mutual benefit and for the improvement of the lives of young Londoners. This was clearly evident and proved very successful on the night as time and time again we saw our guests meeting each other to discuss learning and exchange ideas.

It was a privilege to be part of this important occasion marking the Trust's effort to help to change London. We believe that by gathering the rich diversity of cultures, languages and faiths together the journey towards making London a better place for us all has truly begun.

To view a list of organisations which have received grants under the Trust's Leadership and Reconciliation initiative click here.