Authority - Journal

Latest updates… You asked, we delivered!

Un-blocker (noun). An intervention to remove a barrier. (According to the Match My Project team at least).

We recently rolled out the first phase of ‘un-blocker’ features, small but crucial tweaks to the way Match My Project works, to help people save time and energy – and ultimately create more matches.

These changes were the ones we saw as levers to create the most value for the greatest number of users. They were largely identified by our user groups (our valued inner-circle authority, business and community organisations) and by analysing the most frequently reported queries received by our help desk.

Follow along for the roadblocks 🚧, solutions ✅ and the results ✨ we hope these changes will unlock for you. As always, let us know if you have any feedback.

Signing up

1. New guidance at signup, for success first time

🚧 New users were signing up for the wrong account type, or signing up twice on behalf of their organisation.

✅ Guidance links are available at signup to help people quickly solve any questions they have about signing up.

✅ At the end of the form, there’s a summary of the next steps, to help new users know what to expect.

✨ The easier signup is, the more organisations available to match and the greater impact can be delivered.

2. We binned Twitter to focus on LinkedIn

🚧 Being asked to add their X account details was (understandably) putting off new users.

✅ Now the only social media account information we collect is your LinkedIn account.

✨ Sometimes a step back is a step forward. Follow us on LinkedIn where we celebrate and share the amazing work being done through Match My Project.

3. Suppliers state their contracts, to speed up approval

🚧 Authorities reported difficulties approving businesses, because sometimes they’d have to talk to different teams to understand if they should be on the platform.

✅ To help the authority understand their current relationship with the business signing up, businesses are now asked if they have a current contract with the authority, and the contract title.

4. Tell us how you found us – to help spread the word!

🚧 Authorities didn’t know how organisations heard about Match My Project, or which channels for promoting it were effective.

✅ Both business and community users are asked how they heard about Match My Project.

✨ This should help authorities to promote Match My Project more effectively to their stakeholders and get more organisations on board.

Logging in

5. New guidance on login, for smoother account access

🚧 Users were getting confused by the login process and trying to login to the wrong authority’s site.

✅ It’s now clearer which site users are logging into, with the authority’s name displayed in the guidance text. There are instructions about what to do if you need to login to a different authority, or access more authorities.

✨ The aim: people login successfully first time.

Adding projects and offers

6. Autosave is here!

🚧 Previously when adding a project or offer, you had to click the ‘Save’ button in order to save it. But this wasn’t clear and sometimes people’s login sessions timed out, meaning their work was lost.

✅ Now once you’ve added your title and description, a draft project or offer is automatically saved in My Projects and can be accessed from the project card.

✨ Saved work = saved time.

7. Clearer project summaries – to speed up matching

🚧 Businesses were getting confused because of how projects were being described, taking them longer to find out if a project was relevant to them.

✅ The project title and description questions have been tweaked and good examples added, to help community organisations describe the projects in the best light!

✨ Suppliers save time & community organisations get more matches.

8. Businesses can make their offers clearer by adding add documents

🚧 It was sometimes difficult for community organisations to understand what was on offer because they weren’t able to see it.

✅ Useful documents such as images and product specs can now be added to offers of in kind support.

✨ Clearer information = time saved.

Profile updates

9. Community users can easily update team members

🚧 Previously community organisations couldn’t manage their team very easily. When team members left, you had to contact the help desk so that someone new could take over the account.

✅ Now, users can easily be added and deleted from the Profile page.

✨ Keep your account more secure.

⚙️ New users are invited by email.

⚙️ If you need to delete someone’s account, their projects can be transferred to an existing user.

Authority updates

10. More flexible sorting and less scrolling

🚧 Previously, authority users could only sort through their applications A-Z or Z-A. This made things difficult you needed to view a category that was in the middle of the list, e.g. ‘Edits requested’.

✅ Now clicking the sort buttons cycles through options where there are more than two categories visible.

✨ Find the information you need more quickly and easily.

11. Authorities can see who’s given feedback

🚧 Previously it wasn’t easy for authorities to know who to nudge, for projects that were taking a long time to complete.

✅ Now authorities can see on the project card which organisation has given feedback. They can also see the details of the feedback on the project page.

✨ More visibility, more impact.

⚙️ Feedback details appear immediately.

12. Authorities can reverse matches that can’t be completed

🚧 Previously this was only available on community-led projects and not in kind support offers, meaning some projects were getting ‘stuck’ where organisations had gone into administration, for example.

✅ Authorities have the ability to ‘reverse match’ all matches. The relevant organisations are alerted by email. If the end date hasn’t passed for the project or offer, it is returned to the directory. If the project or offer has expired, the organisation is alerted to update or remove it.

✨ Up to date projects that are easier to track and manage.

13. All matches included in impact data

🚧 Previously the impact section only included information on community-led projects, not matches initiated by suppliers.

✅ ‘Matches’ has replaced ‘Projects supported’

✨ Stakeholders have a full picture of what’s happening.

14. More data points added to your data download

Stay tuned for a guide on how to make the most of your data download.

👀 Un-blockers round 2 is coming this summer – stay tuned!

💡 Have suggestions for future updates? We’d love to hear them. Email us at support@matchmyproject.com.

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.

We had a great launch in Cambridge in the middle of May.

Many thanks to the council team for organising the event. It was a well attended online event with many council suppliers and community partners on the call.

There is so much going on across Cambridgeshire at the moment.

Consider the £1 million in funding for Greater Cambridge Impact, approved late last year by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

And there are a number of strategic partnerships in place to deliver locally-led growth, investment and regeneration. Perhaps the most important being with Homes England’s new Strategic Place Partnership.

It is vital that local communities – and particularly those in need – see the benefit of this inward investment. This is why we are so pleased to see Match My Project introduced to Cambridgeshire.

People do talk about Match My Project as being an innovative Social Value delivery platform.

Perhaps it’s because we work with the platform everyday – but we think it’s just plain common sense.

In many of the places we work we see a community sector plugged into the challenges facing local people.

These organisations know what people are going through in a way that, often, the public and private sector cannot.

They know the history and they know the politics. They are often right at the heart of local networks.

If then, as an authority, you are asking your supply chain to create local community benefits, it seems obvious to build on existing social, community or civic infrastructure that your local community sector has created over decades.

Match My Project makes that match between private and community sector as easy and as effective – as efficient and as targeted – as possible. We make private and community sector collaboration easy and then let the public sector, as the contracting authority, scale that collaboration to maximise Social Value delivery and impact.

And as simple as that sounds, the Match My Project team has invested a lot of time and effort into making it easy.

And it is why the launch events are so important – to share good practice and top tips so we see as many projects delivered as possible.

So, if you want to get involved with Cambridgeshire County Council’s Match My Project, here’s how:

– Get in touch with the Match My Project team here

– Get in touch with the Cambridgeshire County Council 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.

We all know that managing Social Value takes time…

From finding out what community organisations need, to getting suppliers involved, to tracking delivery – it all adds up.

Many authorities dedicate hours, even days, every week to Social Value administration. Our conversations with public sector partners have highlighted this challenge repeatedly.

We’ve heard many a horror story about manual Social Value Excel spreadsheets.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Working closely with our public sector partners through our bi-monthly User Group, we’ve designed Match My Project to eliminate this time drain, without compromising on quality.

In fact, our platform helps deliver more outcomes while requiring less admin time.

Here’s how:

Speedy onboarding: authorities can be up and running in just 8 minutes, businesses in under 2 minutes, and community organisations in under 6 minutes

Simplified project creation: community organisations can add well-structured projects in around 8 minutes, eliminating the need for authorities to chase up on poorly written requests

Automated matching and tracking: suppliers and community organisations match amongst themselves, removing the need for spreadsheets, email chains, and follow-up calls that take up valuable time

One of our most prolific authority users, Hyde Housing Association, told us, “Having Match My Project has meant that the time spent on reviewing and facilitating Social Value requests has reduced from two days a week to two hours a week. So it’s definitely been worthwhile for us.”

What makes Match My Project stand out is that it’s not a trade-off between time and quality. You actually get better outcomes in less time.

The platform ensures resources go to the right places while freeing up your team to focus on strategic priorities rather than administration.

Would a quick chat be helpful? Let’s see how we can help you reduce the amount of time you spend doing Social Value without sacrificing any quality.

Are you delivering Social Value that is genuinely impactful?

Social Value is a great opportunity to strengthen local communities.

And local community organisations know what their communities need better than anyone.

From our conversations with our public sector partners, we know they agree with us.

But so often Social Value feels untargeted – sometimes driven by what the supplier chooses to do, rather than led by the community. And, worst case scenario, it can be unverified.

How confident are you that the Social Value committed at tender stage – which feels ambitious and aspirational – is actually delivered, is actually felt in the community?

It’s a problem.

And, based on our public sector partners – through our bi-monthly User Group – that we knew to design Match My Project to explicitly address these challenges.

Every authority we work with has the opportunity to configure its own Match My Project site to ensure:

-All community projects that receive resources are delivering against local place based outcomes

-Resources get to the type of community projects that are really going to benefit – larger charities with existing bid writing teams may, for example, not need extra resources as much as the smaller local organisations

-Resources get to projects in exactly the right place, geographically – does the southern part of the borough, or a particular estate need more support? You can do that on Match My Project.

Would a quick chat be helpful? Let’s see how we could help you deliver Social Value that is truly targeted and impactful.

It’s one thing getting suppliers to commit to Social Value – and another for them to deliver it

Over the years, Social Value has suffered from what we call the ‘credibility gap’.

That’s the difference between rhetoric and reality.

Or… what suppliers promise to deliver at tender stage and what they deliver in contract mobilisation.

There are ways and means of dealing with this. Let’s take them in turn.

Option 1: ask the supplier to self certify

This is a tricky one.

It creates a risk of gaming: essentially, you are asking suppliers to mark their own homework.

In our experience, the people who do Social Value in supplier organisations believe in Social Value and do a great job of delivering it. But, as an institution, suppliers have to focus on revenues and profit margins.

That will always be the priority and this is where potential conflict of interests arise if you go with Option One.

Option 2: ask a third party to assure

Can be expensive.

Asking a team of consultants to assure can increase time and cost.

There is also the risk that the consultants may not have the experience or insight to do this job properly.

And more potential conflict of interest is the team of consultants is also in a contractual relationship with the supplier. Sub-optimal.

Option 3: use a marketplace platform

Marketplace platforms, like Match My Project, have direct access to the community beneficiary.

If a supplier has committed to delivering a resource or an apprenticeship, the community beneficiary – the organisation or the individual – is on Match My Project and will record whether the resource has been delivered to time and to quality.

This is then shared across the network to establish which suppliers are credible and consistent.

No need for suppliers to self-certify or to bring in costly consultants if you use Match My Project.

Would a quick chat be helpful? Let’s see if we can help you deliver Social Value that is community led and community verified.

This month marks a significant milestone as we celebrate two years of Sovereign Network Group (SNG) — a journey defined by purpose, progress, and partnership. In just 24 months, SNG has continued to build on its commitment to providing good, affordable homes, creating the foundations for better lives and stronger communities.

By the Numbers – A Snapshot of Impact

In two years, Sovereign Network Group has achieved impressive outcomes that reflect the power of collaboration and community-driven action:

🏢 54 businesses have signed up to support SNG’s mission

🤝 134 community-based organisations have joined the network

⏱️ 131 volunteer hours donated

🌱 52 projects supported to date

Each number tells a story of people coming together to create meaningful change across neighbourhoods and regions.

A Vision for Thriving Communities

SNG’s vision is to create thriving communities over generations, guided by five key goals:

1. Financial and Digital Inclusion

SNG provides proactive and critical support to customers facing financial hardship. From building financial resilience to supporting digital connectivity, they ensure the communities aren’t left behind in a rapidly evolving world.

2. Community Action

Through close collaboration with anchor organisations, local groups, and their customers, SNG co-creates social action programmes with long-term impact. Their focus areas include youth initiatives, ageing well, health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. Together, they harness community power and amplify customer voices.

3. Partnerships and Fundraising

SNG’s partnership approach is strategic and inclusive. By bringing in external funding, we enhance and expand our community investment offer, helping local organisations grow their capacity and deliver more impactful services. Everything SNG does, from grant-making to collaborative frameworks, is rooted in driving measurable social value.

Reflecting on the last two years, we are inspired by the dedication, creativity, and compassion fueling the Sovereign Network Group. From affordable homes to meaningful partnerships, they remain committed to helping individuals and communities not just survive, but truly thrive.

Here’s to the future — building stronger, fairer, and more connected communities. 🏡💛

It’s always great to connect in person with community organisations, businesses and government officials using Match My Project.

We recently attended the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Social Value Showcase in south-east London.

Three of the Borough’s contractors showcased their social value initiatives, from creating apprenticeships to improving spaces for local people to enjoy.

This work is part of the borough’s broader strategy to embed social value into its procurement activities.

We also heard from local people who these initiatives have impacted, demonstrating the tangible impact that social value can have on local residents and communities.

We’re excited to hear more stories like these in the weeks and months ahead as Match My Project gains traction.

Here are our reflections following the event:

Social value opens doors

We heard directly from some of the young people who’ve had employment and training opportunities as a result of these social value initiatives.

Aura from Shooters Hill 6th Form spoke keenly about how his time on a real construction site with Mullaley has changed his preconceptions about careers in construction.

Similarly, Charlie told us how his apprenticeship at Axis has helped him to realise first-hand some of the opportunities available within the Quantity Surveying field.

These aren’t just two more apprenticeships created, they’re two more doors open to young people at important moments in their careers.

We expect to see more local people securing placements through the Pathways to Work feature on Match My Project.

Collaboration is key

A central theme of the showcase was the importance of collaboration between the borough, local organisations, and suppliers to achieve social value goals.

This was evident in a presentation by Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) about how they’re working with three of the borough’s contracted property consultants (Faithorn Farrell Timms, Martin Arnold and Potter Raper) to deliver social value in Greenwich.

Stuart Butler-Gallie, Environment, Social and Governance Consultant for CACT, shared some of the projects that have emerged from this partnership, including an employability workshop which provided young people with an introduction to the construction industry.

Collaboration between the public, private and voluntary sectors is key to maximising social value delivery in communities.

Match My Project provides a platform to connect organisations in Greenwich, bringing public, private and voluntary organisations together to work on exciting collaborative projects like the employability workshop.

Match My Project is helping authorities generate direct investment in community projects

Procurement Strategy Lead for Royal Borough of Greenwich, Dean Hogan, drew the day to a close with some details on how the borough plans to leverage its significant spending power to generate additional social value.

An important part of this strategy is the borough’s recent investment in Match My Project.

Having officially launched with Match My Project in February this year, the borough’s contractors and community organisations have already started matching and working on local projects together.

Here’s some of the impact we’ve already seen through Greenwich’s Match My Project site:

– 2 projects completed

– 7 matches

– Over 60 businesses and community organisations signed up and ready to match!

Looking to the future, we’re excited to continue supporting Greenwich’s social value journey, connecting businesses with community needs, and helping to maximise the positive potential of public procurement.

Greenwich organisations – sign up to Match My Project here to find out where your support is needed!

Authority