Welcome to the Journal.

Here’s what we’ve been thinking about...

How one community organisation completed 36 projects on Match My Project

The Rotary Club of Chichester Harbour has completed 36 projects and worked with 17 suppliers through Match My Project.  As a community organisation on Hyde Housing Association’s Match My Project site, they’ve completed more projects through the platform than any other organisation. Rotary Chichester Harbour has been providing wrap-around support to the Chichester community for […]


Tips and Tricks for Businesses on Match My Project

Are you a supplier or local company keen to support your local community? The Match My Project platform is an online marketplace where community organisations and groups can ask for help for their projects from our supply chain. Local companies can also post their jobs and free resources on the platform. Here are some things […]


Tips and tricks for Community Organisations using Match My Project

Here are some things to think about when posting projects and using Match My Project. When signing up for an account, DO… When posting a project, DO… During project matching, DO… …DON’T Additional things to consider


2024, in review

2024 has been a big one for Match My Project. We asked each MMP team member to tell us about their highlight of the year. Here are the moments we’ll remember 2024 by as a team: Dan, Founder and Team Captain It’s not been a bad year for Match My Project. We’ve brought some great […]


Remembering Together

How Match My Project is helping create collaborative and creative spaces for local communities Fierce Festival is a festival of theatre, performance and experiences which takes place in and around Birmingham every two years. This year, Fierce matched with Birmingham City University on Match My Project.  From this collaboration, the perfect home for a specially […]


Empowering the Next Generation: Ridge’s Match with Greater Manchester Youth Network 

At Match My Project, we celebrate businesses that step up to create meaningful jobs and training opportunities in their communities – and Ridge & Partners is a shining example of this commitment in action. Ridge & Partners, a Built Environment Consultancy, recently partnered with the Greater Manchester Youth Network (GMYN) through Match My Project to […]


Our thoughts on World Mental Health Day

Today is World Mental Health Day. Why celebrate Mental Health Day? Mental health matters, today and every other day.  According to mental health charity Mind, 2 million people are currently stuck on waiting lists for NHS mental health services.  Mental health stigma is a significant issue. People are being left behind by a broken mental […]


How a one-time match became a thriving partnership: The Hive College

We recently heard from Ruth Martin, work placement coordinator at The Hive College, about how Match My Project has been helping her source opportunities for young people with disabilities in Birmingham. I’m Ruth, I’m from The Hive College. We are an outstanding, according to Ofsted (and ourselves), college in Erdington North Birmingham. We offer courses […]


Super-charging Social Value delivery in Solihull

Earlier this week at Birmingham and Solihull Social Value Conference, we heard from Carol Glenn, Social Value Programme Manager at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council about the council’s learnings getting Social Value delivered. The story so far At Solihull Council, we’ve got Social Value embedded in our procurement processes quite well. And that’s the easy part, […]


Match My Project Case Studies, Summer Edition

At Match My Project, we’re privileged to witness firsthand how local initiatives can spark transformation and bring people together. As summer draws to a close, we want to shine a spotlight on some inspiring projects that exemplify the power of community action. From vibrant carnivals to neighborhood clean-ups, these case studies showcase the diverse ways […]


Top Five Tips for Suppliers

Deliver the Best Social Value in Your Communities with Match My Project. How can you make a bigger impact? What if you could boost your business by transforming your social engagement? Match My Project is here to help you take your Social Value delivery to the next level.  We believe in the power of Social […]


What does the new government mean for apprenticeships, jobs and training?

The amount of vacancies due to skills shortages in England more than doubled between 2017 and 2022, from 226,500 to 531,200.  At Match My Project, we’ve been tackling this problem through our Pathways to Work feature,  which gets people from underserved communities into work and training by facilitating partnerships between community organisations and businesses. We’re […]


Care-Leaver Work Placement Offer: A Case Study

Ridge & Partners, a Built Environment Consultancy with eleven locations across the UK, recently signed the Care Leaver Covenant. The Covenant is a promise made by the private, public and voluntary sectors to advocate for care leavers aged 16-25. As part of their pledge, Ridge agreed to offer twelve work experience opportunities to care leavers […]


Top 5 Tips for Community-Based Organisations to Maximise Social Value through Match My Project

Are you making the most of Match My Project? Find out from Match My Project’s most prolific community beneficiary how to maximise the resources available on the platform.  I spoke to Rachel, the Assistant Head of Henry Fawcett Primary School, the most active community organisation on Match My Project. The school has an impressive history […]


The Human Way: Match My Project is the Platform that Connects Communities … Offline

What is the relationship between social responsibility, the tech industry and product development? I recently posed this question to Ruth, the Product Lead at Match My Project.   Her answer got me thinking.  This is what she said: “Technology – we’ve seen through social media – can be quite divisive at times and it can demand […]


The Human Advantage: How Pathways to Work Puts People at the Heart of Hiring

For far too long, the job market has been dominated by outdated hiring practices prioritising certain demographics and overlooking qualified individuals from underrepresented communities.  Conventional hiring criteria tend to favour candidates with traditional educational and professional backgrounds, excluding those with non-linear career paths. Unconscious biases in the recruitment process have also limited the opportunities available […]


Breaking Down Barriers, Building Up Businesses: Match My Project Can Help You Unlock Inclusive Growth

In an era where businesses are increasingly held accountable to contribute to societal progress, opportunity creation is a powerful strategy for driving inclusive growth and Social Value. Our new jobs and training feature is here, and it’s making opportunities more accessible for local communities and businesses alike. Businesses today are expected to do more than […]


AI: Threat or Opportunity? A Guide to the Future of Entry-Level Employment and Training

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the workplace and raising concerns about the future of entry-level jobs. As businesses adopt AI technologies like chatbots, robotic process automation, and machine learning, many routine and repetitive tasks traditionally performed by humans are being automated. This has significant implications for young people entering the job market and those in lower-skilled roles. For businesses committed to creating work and training opportunities for local people, understanding and addressing these implications is crucial.


Match My Project and the National TOMs

As more and more organisations sign up to Match My Project, an important question is – how does Match My Project work alongside the National TOMs? The National TOMs framework is a set of financial proxies that provides a financial value for Social Value requirements – often specified in government tender documents.  They were introduced […]


‘Listen, collaborate and be innovative in order to find solutions that meet the needs of individuals and communities’… Small Talk with Liz Obertelli from the Breyer Group

Liz is the Head of Communities and Social Value at the Breyer Group, a leading property services provider that has been working with the public sector for over 60 years. We’ve been collaborating with Liz and her Community and Social Value Manager, Bobby Lorraine for the last couple of months and wanted to share what […]


What is Social Value and Why it Matters? 

Social value is an increasingly popular concept that refers to the positive impact a company has on society and the environment, beyond its financial performance. It measures the wider benefits created by an organisation, including social, economic, and environmental impacts, rather than just the profits it generates. In this blog post, we will delve deeper […]

Social value - Two people speaking

‘“You don’t have to see the whole staircase just to take the first step”’… Small Talk with Pippa Pang, at Kinovo

Tell us a bit about your role at Kinovo – what’s a typical day like for you?  I am the Marketing and Social Value Manager at Kinovo Group, which consists of specialist property services contractors, Dunhams, Purdy and Spokemead, so there is always a variety of different jobs to complete, and no day is ever […]


The Difference Between Social Value and CSR

As companies step up to take more significant roles within their communities, businesses are turning to new ways of prioritising social value and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Understanding their differences is crucial for businesses to carve out their purpose and successfully execute the same.  Social Value vs CSR: Definition and Scope It’s time we clearly […]

Hands

Five organisations championing a circular economy on Match My Project … and how you can get involved

Over two billion tonnes of household waste is generated every year across the globe.  This figure excludes other types of waste like agricultural, construction, commercial, and healthcare waste, for which data is severely lacking. If packed into shipping containers and placed end-to-end, this waste would wrap around the equator 25 times.* Local responses to a […]