Our History

Bridges can trace our history back to the philanthropist John Christie (1824 - 1902) and the trusts established to honour his legacy.

1824-1902: The Life of John Christie

John Christie was born in 1824 as the son of Isabella Robertson and Alexander Christie, a colliery-owner and iron founder. Following the death of his father in 1859, he inherited vast lands in Ayrshire, Midlothian and Clackmannanshire. In 1887, after surviving a serious illness, he became a philanthropist. A few years later, he established the girl’s orphanages Christie Female Industrial Homes (Christie Homes). These would become established in Portobello and across East Lothian. In 1902, John Christie died, leaving the bulk of his estate for charitable purposes.

1902-1990: John Christie’s legacy and the birth of Bridges

Following the death of John Christie, the John Christie Trust was formed. It was decided that to thirds of the Trust’s income would go to Christie Homes. In 1934, Christie Homes became Lothian Homes Trust - a trust independent of the John Christie Trust.

50 years after its foundation, in 1984, Lothian Homes Trust established the new charitable scheme Bridges One Door Initiative. This was the birth of what would later become Bridges.

Bridges One Door Initiative, which was approved by the Court of Sessions, set out its initial purposes as the “promotion of education and training of young persons under the age of 22 years who are in need of care or living in deprived circumstances or require assistance to become adjusted to living independent lives “.

Bridges One Door Initiative was formed to work with young people to achieve the purposes mentioned above.

Fiona Philipson was the first director of Bridges One Door Initiative, which soon developed into Bridges Project. She had worked with a number of other children’s charities and found their approach overly technical and structured without having a focus on the actual needs of the young people who were looking to them for assistance. Fiona Philipson as CEO led the team working with young people to give them the tools and assistance that allowed them to unlock their potential.  This format is still very much the way in which Bridges runs today. The project ran from premises in Albany Street, Edinburgh.  Jim Boyle, who later would later take over as CEO, also began working at Bridges Project during this period.

1990-2005: Move to East Lothian and Bridges as an independent charity

It was becoming apparent that there were several organisations working in the provision of services for homeless young people in Edinburgh, which was Bridges Project’s core focus at the time. The project therefore decided in the 1990s that it made sense to move out of Edinburgh into East Lothian (where three of the original Christie Homes had been) and where there were the same needs for young people but much less provision.

In 2005, Bridges Project became a separate charity in its own right, independent from Lothian Homes Trust. The newly formed charity also moved its premises to Musselburgh. The decision to establish Bridges Project as a separate charity was made by Lothian Homes Trust as it would allow Bridges Project to seek funding as an independent entity. Lothian Homes Trust also decided that all the income generated from the capital in the Trust would be used to pay the wages of the Bridges Project’s core staff. In addition, the Trust arranged to take on the lease of Bog Park Road in Musselburgh from East Lothian Council and then sublet it to Bridges Project as the newly formed charity’s home.

2005-2026: Expansion of services and name change

In the years following the establishment of Bridges Project as an independent charity, the organisation expanded the types of services it offered to young people and the groups of young people supported. While homeless young people, and young people at risk of homelessness, were still an important target group, Bridges Project started providing services to a wider range of disadvantaged and vulnerable young people. This was therefore also reflected in the services, which now were expanded to include support in areas such as employability, education and wellbeing. As well as this, during the first decades of the new millenium, Bridges Project would additionally start working with young people in Midlothian.

There were also some changes in the leadership at Bridges Project in this period. In 2019, following the sudden passing of CEO Jim Boyle, Emma Scarcliffe took over his position.

In 2026, after a long consultation process with staff, Trustees and young people, Bridges Project rebranded and changed its name to Bridges.