Authority - Journal

East Midlands Combined County Authority launches Match My Project: A Regional First

The sky was blue on the day we visited Nottingham, and the outlook for cross-sector collaboration across the East Midlands was equally bright.

We were delighted to attend the official launch of the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) Match My Project site in early September.

The launch marked an important milestone for both the region and our platform.

Mayor Claire Ward introduced Match My Project to attendees, emphasising its significance for the East Midlands.

As she explained, the authority’s investment in Match My Project represents a commitment to a region that “hasn’t had investment opportunities quite as much as it should have over the last few years.”

A regional rollout

This is the first time Match My Project has been rolled out by a Combined Authority.

Mayor Ward articulated why this moment matters:

“What I’m particularly delighted about is that this is the very first opportunity to do so on a regional scale, to bring together our councils: Nottinghamshire County Council, Derbyshire County Council, Nottingham City and Derby City, and to make each component part, and the relationships they have within our region, much greater, so we become much greater than the sum of our parts – that’s essentially what devolution and regional authority is all about.”

Match My Project doesn’t create Social Value – we build technology that enables its delivery. This regional approach represents a significant step forward in supporting public sector bodies to build more resilient and connected communities at scale.

A successful match

A local charity and a construction company shared how Match My Project helped them achieve tangible results during EMCCA’s pilot phase.

Marc Wade from Just Good Friends Club – a charity supporting people with learning disabilities – posted a request for volunteers to help with their community garden and coffee shack.

Just a few days later, Terri Walker from Lovell Partnerships Ltd, a construction company, spotted the opportunity and offered their support – it was a match!

But the story doesn’t end there.

After this positive start, Lovell used the platform again to offer seven brand-new kitchen sets, complete with base and wall units and worktops. These kitchens were surplus stock from a recently completed contract that had never been used or installed.

Walker said:

“We’ve got rid of seven kitchens that probably would have gone to landfill, so there’s so many outputs there. It’s just been a really easy platform to use, and it’s been great to connect with smaller organisations that we wouldn’t have known about prior.”

Looking forward

Since the event, there’s been a significant surge in sign-ups to the platform. We’re thrilled to see organisations across the East Midlands embracing the platform, and look forward to working closely with local authorities, community organisations and businesses to maximise social value delivery in the region.

Interested in joining the network?

Michael Dyson Associates Ltd has been shaping the built environment for over 40 years. Established in 1980 as a family-run business, the company has grown into a leading multi-disciplinary construction consultancy, offering a wide range of services from architecture and project management to structural engineering, asset management, and retrofit solutions.

What sets Michael Dyson Associates apart is their culture of transparency, innovation, and excellence. Their approach goes beyond traditional consultancy, taking time to understand client needs, aligning services with expectations, and embedding social, economic, and environmental responsibility into every project.

As proud members of the RICS, CIOB, APS, and RIBA, with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications, the company ensures the highest levels of quality and sustainability in all its operations. Their dedication also extends to employee growth, providing pathways for both professional development and personal achievement.

A Strong Commitment to Social Value

Michael Dyson Associates’ impact stretches far beyond construction. With a commitment to reinvest 5% of its turnover in social responsibility initiatives, the company actively supports employment, training, mentoring, and community development projects.

Highlights of their social value work include:

Apprenticeships and accredited training for young people.

Hosting undergraduate placements that lead to graduate employment.

Offering careers advice and mentoring at schools and universities.

Supporting charities such as Worth Unlimited, alongside community projects like food bank donations, digital inclusion schemes, and youth engagement programmes.

Volunteering through hands-on activities like painting community centres and assisting with local projects.

Through their partnership with Hyde Housing Association on the Match My Project platform, Michael Dyson Associates has delivered industry-leading training. To date, they have successfully trained 67 people across various topics, including building safety, high-rise construction, HHSRS surveys, and sustainability in retrofit projects, making them the most successful supplier of training resources to local communities.

Looking Ahead

Michael Dyson Associates Ltd continues to demonstrate that construction consultancy is not just about buildings, it’s about people, places, and long-term community impact. By combining technical expertise with a genuine commitment to social value, they are helping to build not only safer and more sustainable homes but also stronger, more resilient communities.

Their work serves as a reminder that every business has the power to make a meaningful difference.

This is why we are calling on all our business users: If you can’t find a project that perfectly matches your goals, don’t let that stop you. Follow Michael Dyson Associates’ example: offer your skills, training, volunteering time, or resources to communities in need.

Now it’s your turn to step forward. Log in now and share what you can, helping to create the positive change that lasts well beyond a single project.

We’re excited to welcome Brent Council to the Match My Project community! With more than £400 million spent each year, the council is making sure that every pound works harder — delivering real benefits for local people, businesses, and the environment.

Brent’s Social Value and Ethical Purchasing approach is all about using their buying power to support projects that make life better in the borough. This means creating jobs and training opportunities, helping local businesses grow, improving green spaces, and making Brent cleaner, safer, and more connected.

Here’s what they’re focusing on:

Strong Foundations – Helping residents gain digital skills, building community links, and giving local suppliers more opportunities.
Every Opportunity to Succeed – Opening up education, work, and training, especially for people who might otherwise miss out.
A Future Built for Everyone – Backing local businesses, championing diversity, and encouraging sustainable growth.
A Cleaner, Greener Brent – Cutting waste, protecting the environment, and working towards carbon neutrality.
Safety and Well-being – Supporting mental and physical health, celebrating culture, and keeping communities safe.

Brent is also making sure that the organisations they work with treat people fairly, pay decent wages, and operate responsibly. And if promises aren’t kept, they’ve set up a special Social Value Fund to make sure local projects still get the support they need.

In essence, Brent Council’s social value policy is a commitment to using its resources and influence to create a positive and lasting impact on the lives of its residents and the overall well-being of the borough. It’s all part of their vision to build a Brent where everyone can thrive, with a strong local economy, thriving communities, and a healthy environment for generations to come.

We’re looking forward to working alongside Brent Council to help turn big ideas into real change for residents and neighbourhoods across the borough.

Want to see your organisation on this list? Contracting authorities can sign up here.

The data download includes information from the activity that happens on an authority’s Match My Project site.

It can be downloaded by Authority Admin and Standard users from the ‘Data download’ subsection of the Account page, accessed from the sidebar.

Structure

This table shows how the data download is laid out. A breakdown of each tab follows below.

Section	Tab names
Overview	1. Overview
Users	2. Users_Community 3. Users_Supplier
Match type 1: Community initiated projects	4. Projects 5. Shortlisted projects 6. Project offers
Match type 2: Supplier in-kind support offers	7. Supplier resource offers 8. Supplier offer requests
Match type 3: Jobs & training opportunities	9. Jobs & training 10. Employment referrals 11. Training referrals 12. Work placement referrals

Section by section breakdown

Section 1: Overview

🗂️ Overview tab

A summary of the activity that has taken place on your site, showing aggregated data for key metrics, for each quarter of the past year and all time.

Section 2: Users

🗂️ Users_Community tab

Contact data, organisation data and login data for each user.

This is created during signup and edited in their Profile. The ‘Created’ and ‘Updated’ columns show when the user was created and when they last updated their details.

🗂️ Users_Supplier tab

As above – Contact data, organisation data and login data for each supplier or business user.

Section 3: Community initiated projects

Three tabs contain data on projects posted by community organisations: Projects, Shortlisted projects, and Project offers.

🗂️ Projects tab

Contains information about projects that community users entered into the ‘Add a Project’ form. For projects that have been matched and beyond, it shows the match date, completed date and feedback.

Here’s a breakdown of the project stages shown in the ‘Status’ column:

Status	Description
Submitted	Awaiting review by the authority
Edits requested	The authority has asked the organisation to edit their project
Awaiting supplier	The project is live in the directory
Supplier offered to complete	The project is under offer, but is still in the directory as the community organisation hasn’t responded to the offer yet
In progress	A match has been made and the project is no longer in the directory
Completed	Both organisations have given feedback

🗂️ Shortlisted projects tab

Shows where suppliers have added community initiated projects to their shortlist of potential projects to support, indicating their interest in completing a project.

Includes the project name, email addresses of the users involved, and the date the project was shortlisted.

🗂️ Project offers tab

A log of all offers sent by supplier users – to complete community initiated projects.

Includes the status of the offer (whether it was accepted/declined) and the date that the offer was sent.

Section 4: Supplier in-kind support offers

There are two tabs related to offers of in-kind support posted by suppliers: Supplier resource offers and Support offer requests.

🗂️ Supplier resource offers tab

Shows the details entered by suppliers submitting an in-kind support offer on the ‘In-kind support offer’ form and the offer status. For offers that have been matched and beyond, it shows the match date, completed date and feedback.

Here’s a breakdown of the labels in the ‘Status’ column:

Status	Description
Submitted	Awaiting review by the authority
Edits requested	The authority has asked the organisation to edit their offer
Awaiting community organisation	The offer is live in the directory
Community organisation has requested the resources on offer	The project is under offer, but is still in the directory as the supplier hasn’t responded to the offer yet
In progress	A match has been made and the project is no longer in the directory
Completed	Both organisations have given feedback

🗂️ Support offer requests tab

A log of all requests made by community organisations, on in-kind support offers. All the information entered on the request form is shown in this tab, including the outcomes of how the community organisation plans to use the resources.

The status of the request is shown in the ‘Status’ column and the date that the request was sent is in the ‘Created’ column.

Section 5: Jobs and training opportunities

🗂️ Jobs & training tab

Contains all the data submitted by supplier on the ‘Employment & training’ offer form when they create a jobs or training opportunity.

You can also track the Status, match and completed dates, number of referrals for each opportunity and status of those referrals.

🗂️ Employment referrals tab, Training referrals tab & Work placement referrals tab

A log of the candidates referred to each opportunity type and when the referral was made.

Thanks for using Match My Project!

Special appreciation goes out to everyone who takes the time to share feedback 🙏

Send your thoughts over to support@matchmyproject.org.

The data download has recently been updated! In this article you’ll find details of the latest changes. For a general overview of the download and how to navigate the tabs, see this guide.

These changes include some upgraded metrics and bring the download in line with the site as a whole, reflecting recent improvements.

1. See more detail about community and supplier users

New columns in the Users_Community and Users_Supplier tabs now include all the information from the sign-up form:

✅ How they heard about Match My Project.

✅ The information to establish any pre-existing relationships with your organisation such as a recent contract, if community organisations have recently received funding from you or recognised funders and if they are a member of the local community & voluntary sector infrastructure body.

Some other changes include:

✅ New activity data for each user showing the number of logins in the past month and average monthly logins in the past 6 months, replacing the login log tab.

✅ For clarity, Charities Commission and Companies House numbers are in separate columns.

2. Keep tabs on key project and offer data

A few important data points have been added to help you understand your matches better.

✅ The match date and completion date has been added. For community initiated projects, these dates are located in the Projects tab, columns AG-AH. For business initiated in-kind support offers, they’re shown in columns Z and AA of the Supplier resource offers tab.

✅ The supplier’s tag for whether the project counts as Social Value or CSR is now displayed in the Project offers and Supplier resource offers tabs in a column called Social value / CSR.

3. Track jobs and training data

There are new tabs help you keep track of all jobs and training opportunities created by businesses.

✅ Jobs & Training lists all opportunities posted by suppliers and

✅ The Referrals tabs list all referrals made by community organisations to jobs, training and work placement opportunities.

4. See new overview data

The aggregated data has been slightly restructured to be more useful.

✅ In the Overview tab, there’s new ‘all time’ data, additional to quarterly data for the current financial year.

5. View and navigate data with ease

We fixed the extra-wide columns.

✅ The resized, standardised columns are easier to work with, prevent too much scrolling and improve readability.

Thanks for using Match My Project!

Special appreciation goes out to everyone who takes the time to share feedback 🙏

Send your thoughts over to support@matchmyproject.org.

A Shared Commitment to Stronger Communities

We are pleased to announce that ForHousing has joined the Match My Project platform.

ForHousing owns and manages over 19,000 homes across the North West and is widely recognised for its commitment to supporting tenants and communities through inclusive, customer-focused services. A clear mission guides their work: to provide safe, well-maintained homes and deliver equitable and efficient services that reflect the needs and priorities of their tenants.

With a strong presence in Salford and the wider Greater Manchester area, ForHousing brings valuable regional knowledge and a proven track record of community development. Their approach is built on respect, trust, openness and passion, values that resonate strongly with our ethos at Match My Project.

We are especially proud to be expanding our work in the North West with an organisation that has consistently demonstrated innovation in tackling social issues. From award-winning strategies to address anti-social behaviour, to delivering employment and financial inclusion programmes that support vulnerable residents, ForHousing exemplifies what it means to invest in the drivers of long-term wellbeing.

By joining Match My Project, ForHousing will connect with like-minded local authorities, housing associations, VCFSEs, and suppliers who are committed to delivering social value in the places that need it most. We believe collaboration is the key to unlocking new opportunities, and this partnership will help do just that.

We look forward to supporting the ForHousing team as they engage with local stakeholders through the platform, and to seeing the positive outcomes that arise from this new chapter.

Welcome to the platform, ForHousing. We’re excited to work together to build stronger, more resilient communities.

Want to see your organisation on this list? Contracting authorities can sign up here.

We try to be transparent and straightforward.

For example, last week we shared our product update for Match My Project.

The new product features we’ve just shipped and what we’re working on is out there for the whole world to see.

As we were doing this, some ‘disinformation’ about Match My Project came to light in an email chain I was included in.

Which also included around 50 public sector organisations.

The conduit of the disinformation put his hand up.

And is checking his source 🔍

But given how easily the disinformation was shared, who knows who else is under false pretences about Match My Project?

In case you are a UK public sector organisation interested in Social Value delivery and the work we do at Match My Project, can I just confirm:

There IS matching on @Match My Project (!)

Suppliers can search for community projects by using specific criteria.

Related to geography, place based outcome and resource type.

‘Several local authorities have cancelled.’

This could not be further from the truth.

We have had 100% retention over almost 5 years.

No one has cancelled and so far everyone has renewed.

For now.

We realise it won’t stay that way forever.

And we do not take our customers for granted in any way.

But in my experience of building product…

100% retention over 5 years is pretty rare.

If this is doing the rounds in your networks, please check your sources.

Or, make up your own mind by coming to one of our open sessions, taking place tomorrow morning…

We are proud to announce that Onward Homes has renewed its partnership with Match My Project for another two years. This decision highlights their long-term commitment to delivering social value and supporting the communities they serve.

As one of the largest housing providers in the North West, Onward Homes manages over 35,000 properties across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, and Lancashire. Their mission extends beyond providing housing; they are dedicated to empowering residents and investing in neighbourhoods to help people lead happier, more independent lives.

A Mission Backed by Action

Onward’s collaboration with Match My Project has united businesses, suppliers, and grassroots organisations to achieve tangible results. From community gardening initiatives to skills-based volunteering, every match made on the platform contributes to Onward’s broader mission of strengthening local communities.

Here’s what that looks like in numbers:

🏢 104 businesses signed up to support local communities

🤝 102 community organisations engaged

⏱️ 1,029 volunteer hours donated

🌱 61 projects completed

🔄 53 more in the pipeline

🔧 16 suppliers actively offering support

These numbers represent real people uplifted, spaces improved, and relationships built across various sectors.

Why It Matters

By extending this partnership for another two years, Onward Homes reaffirms its commitment to the importance of long-term collaborations that foster local impact. This partnership enables Onward to:

Support grassroots organisations addressing real-world challenges
Help businesses create meaningful social value within the communities they serve
Build a stronger network of support for residents across the North West

What’s Next?

Onward Homes is committed to delivering practical, high-impact solutions, ranging from volunteering initiatives to supplier-driven contributions. Together, we are working towards a future where housing providers act as catalysts for lasting, community-led change.

We look forward to seeing what the next two years bring, and we’re proud to be part of the journey.

Looking to simplify the way your organisation delivers social value?
Contracting authorities can sign up here to get started.

At the end of May Peabody launched their Match My Project platform.

The Match My Project team is so pleased to be working with Peabody, one of the oldest, and largest, housing associations in the UK.

It was founded in 1862 by the American banker and philanthropist George Peabody. The first Peabody dwellings were in Spitalfields, on the edge of the City and not too far from where the Match My Project is based.

By using Match My Project, Peabody is continuing its long history of working with communities to tackle social and economic inequality.

Indeed, Peabody continues to innovate – for example with its 189-home project at Deptford Landings, one of the biggest single-phase Passivhaus projects in the UK.

Peabody is also leading the regeneration of south east London, with its enormous programmes in Thamesmead, Abbey Wood and Plumstead, with significant investment from the Greater London Authority.

We had a great launch – thanks goes to Corin Menuge and team. And thanks to Stephen Burns, Peabody’s Executive Director for Care, Supported Housing and Inclusion.

And also a great turnout with lots of Peabody community partners and suppliers in the room.

The in-person launches are always great, as it gives the Match My Project team a chance to get out in front on local stakeholders. One of the things we’re most proud of is the approach-ability and responsiveness of our team. It was an opportunity for everyone to put Match My Project names to faces.

So, if you want to get speak to someone about getting involved with Peabody’s Match My Project platform, here’s how:

– Get in touch with the Match My Project team here

– Get in touch with the Peabody team here

– Stay up to date with Match My Project opportunities if you are a business or a community organisation or a local public sector organisation.