{"id":1560,"date":"2025-09-30T08:33:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T08:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/?p=1560"},"modified":"2025-11-05T10:24:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T10:24:57","slug":"east-midlands-combined-country-authority-regional-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/east-midlands-combined-country-authority-regional-first\/","title":{"rendered":"East Midlands Combined County Authority launches Match My Project: A Regional First"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The sky was blue on the day we visited Nottingham, and the outlook for cross-sector collaboration<\/strong> across the East Midlands was equally bright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were delighted to attend the official launch <\/strong>of the <\/strong>East Midlands Combined County Authority <\/strong>(EMCCA) Match My Project site<\/strong><\/a> in early September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The launch marked an important milestone<\/strong> for both the region and our platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Claire Ward<\/strong> introduced Match My Project<\/a> to attendees, emphasising its significance for the East Midlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she explained, the authority\u2019s investment<\/strong> in Match My Project<\/strong> represents a commitment to a region<\/strong> that \u201chasn\u2019t had investment opportunities quite as much as it should have over the last few years.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A regional rollout<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is the first time<\/strong> Match My Project<\/strong> has been rolled out by a Combined Authority<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Ward articulated why this moment matters<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhat 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<\/strong> \u2013 that\u2019s essentially what devolution and regional authority is all about.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Match My Project doesn\u2019t create Social Value<\/strong> \u2013 we build technology<\/strong> that enables its delivery<\/strong>. This regional approach represents a significant step forward<\/strong> in <\/strong>supporting public sector bodies <\/strong>to build more resilient and connected communities<\/strong> at scale<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


A successful match<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A local charity<\/strong> and a construction company<\/strong> shared how Match My Project helped them achieve tangible results<\/strong> during EMCCA\u2019s pilot phase<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marc Wade from Just Good Friends Club<\/a><\/strong><\/em> \u2013 a charity supporting people with learning disabilities \u2013 posted a request for volunteers<\/strong> to help with their community garden <\/strong>and coffee shack<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just a few days later, Terri Walker from Lovell Partnership<\/strong><\/em>s<\/strong> Ltd<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, a construction company, spotted the opportunity and offered their support<\/strong> \u2013  it was a match<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the story doesn\u2019t end there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

 Walker said: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve got rid of seven kitchens that probably would have gone to landfill, so there\u2019s so many outputs there. It\u2019s just been a really easy platform to use<\/strong>, and it\u2019s been great to connect with smaller organisations <\/strong>that we wouldn\u2019t have known about <\/strong>prior.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


Looking forward<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Since the event, there’s been a significant surge in sign-ups<\/strong> to the platform. We\u2019re thrilled to see organisations across the East Midlands embracing the platform, and look forward to working closely with local authorities, community organisations and businesses<\/strong> to maximise social value delivery<\/strong> in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in joining the network?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,6,5],"tags":[42,10,8],"class_list":["post-1560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-authority","category-local-impact","category-partnership","tag-community-impact","tag-local-impact","tag-social-value","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1560"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1680,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1560\/revisions\/1680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Sign up to EMCCA\u2019s site here<\/a> or get in touch at hello@matchmyproject.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n