City Gateway Administration Disrupts Mayor's Community Grant Project; Other Projects Face Challenges

Tower Hamlets, London - A recent report to the Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-Committee has revealed that the administration of City Gateway, an organisation receiving funds from the Mayor's Community Grant Programme (MCGP), will impact one of its projects aimed at helping ex-offenders. The closure of the City Gateway project will affect ex-offenders aged 16-24 in Tower Hamlets.

The MCGP, which funds voluntary and community sector organisations, focuses on five key themes, including tackling the cost-of-living crisis, accelerating education, and empowering communities. According to the MCGP Performance Report – Jan-Mar 25, most projects are performing well. However, City Gateway's ReBuild - Pathways to Employment for Ex-Offenders project will now close due to the organisation entering administration. This project aimed to enhance life and employment opportunities for ex-offenders aged 16-24 through education, training, and one-to-one coaching.

'Entering administration' means that City Gateway announced that the organisation was going into administration, which would result in their MCGP project closing. Project Closure Reports will be done for any project that closes, and these will be included in the quarterly Performance Report when completed.

The report, detailed in the Public reports pack 01st-Oct-2025 17.30 Grants Determination Cabinet Sub-Committee, indicated that out of 110 projects, 101 were rated GREEN, 7 AMBER, and 1 RED. The criteria used to rate projects are:

• GREEN: On track to achieve project objectives, delivery has taken place, any performance issues are resolved, and satisfactory project management.
• AMBER: Significant under performance against planned targets is expected that the organisation can get back on track, action plan to be created and followed, some planned delivery has not taken place will need explanation and plan to get back on track, and project management issues for example: late returns, slow to follow up on requests for information.
• RED: The organisation has not signed their funding agreement, significant planned delivery has not taken place, there are serious project management issues for example: unable to contact organisation, performance reports are not submitted, organisation not able to provide evidence of activity and there is a high risk that the project will not achieve planned outcomes.

The project led by Limehouse Welfare Association had been withdrawn, and Quaker Social Action informed the council they would no longer be able to deliver their MCGP project due to their organisational restructure. The report pack stated that, following a review of monitoring returns, 101 of the 110 projects originally funded were classed as GREEN, 7 as AMBER, 1 as RED, and one project had its funding withdrawn.

The MCGP aims to support various initiatives across the borough. The Appendix 3 for Mayors Community Grant Programme MCGP Performance Report Jan-Mar 25 - Project S provides a summary of achievements by theme and project.

The Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-Committee, including Mayor Lutfur Rahman (Executive Mayor) and Councillor Maium Talukdar (Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education, Youth and Lifelong Learning (Statutory Deputy Mayor)), convened to review these matters.