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 a lot of our time and attention, but we want to do things the human way. We want our platforms to be tools that bring people together, bring communities together, and help positive change to happen in the world.”

We want to do things the human way

We want to do things the human way.

This is in the context of a world where things can seem less and less human every day. As Ruth so astutely pointed out, technology can be divisive and demands much of our time and attention. Technology is all-pervasive, and it’s changing how we relate to the world and one another. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and disconnected from the very essence of what makes us human – our communities and personal connections.

At Match My Project, we have made it our mission to bring communities closer together. Our platform harnesses the power of the digital world while staying grounded in the fundamental need for human interaction, empathy, and collaboration. 

We’re not about creating online communities for their own sake or as a way to harvest data and market to people. We’re creating connections to get more jobs, training and resources into our communities.

A Platform that Makes a Real Difference in Communities

Onward Homes and Novus Property Solutions recently used Match My Project to collaborate on an inspiring initiative to create a local work opportunity in the Kirkdale community of Liverpool. 
Working closely with Everton in the Community (EITC), one of the UK’s top sporting charities, eight local candidates were identified and interviewed by Onward and Novus.

Ryan, who lives locally and who was out of work at the time, was appointed to a permanent job position with Novus that included all training needed. Ryan will be working on various elements of Novus’ retrofit scheme with Onward to deliver energy efficiency improvements to 400 homes in Liverpool, making them warmer, quieter and more comfortable for the people who live in them.

A representative from Novus emphasised the organisation’s commitment to creating good Social Value employment opportunities. They said:

“At the end of September 2023, the number of unemployed people aged 16 and over in the Liverpool area was a staggering 14,600 – a rate of 5.7%. Novus are committed to reducing that statistic where possible by offering local persons the opportunity to join our contract with new client Onward Homes … Local employment and helping people return to work after a period of unemployment is one of our main priorities within all our contracts. We wish Ryan all the success within his new role.”

Ryan’s successful appointment to a role at Novus is a shining example of the tangible difference that Match My Project is making in local communities.

This is what an Onward spokesperson had to say:

“The Retrofit programme is a great initiative to work in partnership to promote opportunities in the Kirkdale area. Using Match My Project has enabled us to promote these opportunities and give the best social value return in our local areas.”

Onward Homes and Novus Property Solutions were both rated 5 stars on Match My Project for the accuracy, communication and timeliness of their involvement in the project.

At Match My Project, we are proud of success stories like this one. We are championing a human approach to technology, where connecting communities is at the heart of our work.

We believe in technology as a force for good. Our new Pathways to Work feature is enabling businesses and community-based organisations to work together to create high-quality employment opportunities in local areas.  

Our Product Development team is working hard behind the scenes to make our platform even more innovative and efficient for the people who use it. Watch this video to find out more about the upcoming feature releases you can look out for, and to hear more about what motivates the Match My Project team.

In recent years, businesses worldwide are becoming more aware of their social responsibility towards the communities they operate in. With this shift in mindset, a growing number of companies are taking initiatives to help their local community through various means. Such efforts not only help businesses establish themselves as socially responsible entities, but also increase their social value and give back to their local communities. Let’s take a closer look at how companies are helping their local community and why it matters.

Local Volunteering

Planting for social value

Companies encourage their employees to participate in local volunteering activities. Volunteering opportunities such as cleaning public spaces, conducting awareness drives, and helping out at local nonprofits are becoming more accessible. By offering these opportunities to their employees, companies help to bridge gaps between the community, promote a sense of belonging and increase employee wellbeing… and productivity. 

Providing Apprenticeships and Jobs

By investing in local talent, businesses can create a workforce that is not only skilled but also loyal to the company. This way, businesses can become a part of the community and develop a positive image that attracts potential customers and employees. Moreover, by providing jobs, businesses can contribute to reducing poverty and promoting economic growth in the area. It’s a win-win for business and community.

Offering Free Services to Local Community Organisations

Whether it’s fixing a broken window or providing 10 laptops, working closely with community organisations gives companies the chance to provide the exact support needed, when it is needed. Community organisations are already doing the best they can with limited funds, so a little extra help from companies goes a long way. 

As businesses continue to expand and become more influential, it is becoming increasingly important for them to play a socially responsible role. By helping their local community, companies can enhance their social value, build their reputation, source local talent, and benefit society as a whole. 

MatchMyProject can support all of the above by connecting companies directly with community organisations and local jobseekers. Join now to boost your social value

At Onward, we are committed to making the most positive impact we can for the people and communities we serve. We want our investment to stretch beyond bricks and mortar. Our Director of Strategy, Rob Loughenbury, tells us more…

Our Corporate Plan ‘The Onward Difference’ sets out our commitment to make a positive difference by enabling people and communities to be their best. We will do this by providing homes that people love, in places they are proud of, and by working with our partners to do more. When it comes to making The Onward Difference, we know we can’t do this alone, but by working in partnership. 

MatchMyProject has provided us with the tools to do just that by giving more back to our local community through our supply chain, helping all parties achieve meaningful social value outcomes. The platform has allowed us to adjust our approach to better measure and report on social value activity, ensuring we are delivering on our Corporate Plan commitments. 

Since joining, our supply chain has supported 14 key projects, donated 259 hours of volunteer time, and pledged a further 259 hours in supporting local community groups. Onward’s largest repair contractor, Fortem Solutions, currently sits at the top of the platform’s leader board after giving 176 hours of their colleagues’ time and donating over £2,300 in materials to community groups that work with us. 

Our Procurement Strategy aims to put ‘our customers and neighbourhoods at the heart of purchasing decisions’.  MatchMyProject therefore plays a vital role in enabling our community groups to directly access the support they need from our supply chain to deliver things such as training and work experience to gain meaningful employment.  We are now in the process of embedding MatchMyProject into our procurement plans for 2023-24, whereby bidders will be able to gain access to existing Social Value opportunities published by our community groups and Onward.  We already have 38 communities registered and 37 suppliers. By continuing to encourage our supply chain to sign up to MatchMyProject, we are creating the network we have long needed to make our Social Value impact more sustainable.

We also have plans in place to use the platform to develop our Onward Academy programme, which is currently being piloted in partnership with The Learning Foundry in Merseyside.

The Onward Academy is a new network of organisations we are working to build that will collaborate and use their individual expertise to deliver employment and training for our customers. This network will enable us to facilitate apprenticeships, training and work experience opportunities for our customers that will lead them into good work, and help our own colleagues develop new skills and qualifications. Overall, the Academy will increase the Social Value we offer, help deliver our sustainability strategy and growth plans, and tackle some of the challenges and skills gaps the sector faces such as retrofit.

During our first pilot programme, we have been supporting a small group of 16–24-year-olds across Liverpool to gain valuable work experience as part of a Housing Traineeship.  The students have already completed their CIH Level 2 qualification in housing delivered through the Learning Foundry and are now 8 weeks into gaining valuable work experience.  

This pilot has been a great opportunity to explore how Onward can support our residents by providing them with the qualifications, skills, and experience to gain valuable employment. By working with some of our partners such as the Learning Foundry who have access to funding and training, this has helped Onward to deliver this at no extra cost. This is just 1 of 3 pilots Onward are currently engaged in under the Onward Academy, whereby we are looking to maximise our partnership working to deliver more employment and training opportunities for our customers and residents within our Neighbourhoods. 

Once the pilots have been completed, we will move on to phase two of the programme and conduct a scoping exercise to identify and engage with new delivery partners, rolling out the Onward Academy to expand across our North West geography. MatchMyProject will help us to advertise these opportunities to our communities and connect our supply chain to support work experience.

If you’d like to stay up to date with the latest from MatchMyProject, please get in touch.

Email: hello@matchmyproject.org

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Website: https://matchmyproject.org

Telephone: 020 3488 6223

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We haven’t ever heard a corporate buyer or contracting authority actually say this, but suppliers could be forgiven for thinking it… 

It’s not always easy to find and work with a local community organisation to deliver your Social Value.

Yet, it is a fact that businesses are increasingly being asked to go the extra yard. 

And we’ve known for some time that business ‘does its bit’.

Fortune Global firms spend around $20 billion a year on CSR activities (Meier and Cassar 2018), while more than 90% of the 250 largest companies in the world produce an annual CSR report (KPMG 2017).

Some businesses have community partners they have been working with for many years. And many do a lot of unseen and unrecognised work in their local communities. 

Now, businesses in the UK have to think about Social Value. 

Under law, you can be asked to create ‘Social Value’

When businesses tender for work with the UK Government, they can be asked to create Social Value above and beyond what is being asked for in the contract tender specification. 

Importantly for businesses, Social Value is becoming a determining factor in how government contracts are awarded. 

We are seeing government organisations ratcheting up the weighting in their tenders to 20%.

Bear in mind the UK government spends up to around £280 billion each year in the private sector: getting Social Value right will make a difference to your bottom line. 

Government is increasingly looking at their Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organisations as ideal vehicles for Social Value. 

This makes a lot of sense – for the community, for businesses and for government. 

Think about it for a moment 

Not every business understands what a local community needs. But businesses have resources and have good reasons to contribute.

On the other hand, local VCSE organisations are part of the local fabric of a community. They know where the big challenges are and how to unlock these problems in a way that no one else does. They have all the local knowledge, but lack resources. 

Putting business together with local community organisations is a win-win, and government is increasingly asking for this. 

Take a look at this great collaboration between community and business in Manchester.

But what we’ve discovered is that not every business can find a community project they are able to support. It might be that the range of projects don’t fit with your area of expertise. Or maybe they are too costly. 

We went out and did some research. The results were pretty clear: 

76% of the businesses we spoke to wanted the option to post their own resources on MatchMyProject. 

It might be that you are ready for new laptops for your team, and have some pretty good second-hand ones to share?

Or someone in your company has some spare volunteering time to offer?

Or do you need to find local residents to fill your apprenticeships and work placements?

Then you should sign up to MatchMyProject.