{"id":2688,"date":"2026-06-16T09:07:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T09:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/?p=2688"},"modified":"2026-06-16T10:00:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T10:00:41","slug":"the-packs-were-made-the-children-were-waiting-how-birmingham-playcare-network-and-john-sisk-son-got-play-packs-to-birmingham-childrens-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/the-packs-were-made-the-children-were-waiting-how-birmingham-playcare-network-and-john-sisk-son-got-play-packs-to-birmingham-childrens-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"There will be lots of very happy children: How Birmingham Playcare Network and John Sisk & Son got play packs to Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How Birmingham City Council\u2019s Match My Project site connected a construction firm with a children\u2019s charity to get 40 bespoke activity packs to long-term hospitalised children the same month they were made<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why play matters to Birmingham Playcare Network<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Birmingham Playcare Network<\/a> has been championing children\u2019s right to play in Birmingham for years. As the city\u2019s play association, they run programmes, support early years settings and childminders, and operate a scrapstore that collects clean business waste and upcycles it for schools and community projects \u2013 keeping materials out of landfill and putting them to creative use instead. Their mission is simple: giving every child a chance to play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birmingham Playcare Network had done the hard work. Working closely with Ward Buddies<\/a> \u2013 a therapeutic play initiative led by Jamie McDonald with clinical oversight from Dr Hollie Richardson \u2013 and funded by Veolia<\/a> for the materials, Birmingham Playcare Network had hand-created 40 bespoke craft and activity packs for children spending extended time at Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The packs were designed to tackle the boredom, low stimulus, and sense of abandonment that long-term hospitalised children often experience. But Birmingham Playcare Network didn\u2019t have a way to transport the packs. The packs were sitting at their base in Manor Park Grove. The hospital was waiting. And without a way to move them, the children couldn\u2019t benefit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when they turned to Birmingham City Council\u2019s Match My Project site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just one post and there was a match.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Birmingham Playcare Network listed the project on the platform: collect 40 packs from their site and deliver them to staff at Birmingham Children\u2019s Hospital. John Sisk & Son<\/a>, one of Europe\u2019s leading construction and civil engineering companies, with roots in the West Midlands, saw it and stepped up. Matt from the John Sisk & Son team took ownership of the task, and the match was confirmed within the month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Birmingham City Council set the frame and Sisk filled the gap<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Every project listed on Birmingham City Council\u2019s Match My Project site is assessed against local outcome priorities before it goes live. Birmingham Playcare Network\u2019s project was aligned to Children and Health outcomes \u2013 two of the areas where the city has identified greatest need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For John Sisk & Son, the project made immediate sense. The ask was specific, the beneficiaries were clear, and the Social Value contribution was direct and traceable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pip from the Birmingham Playcare Network team was welcoming and well-organised throughout \u2013 making it easy for Matt and the John Sisk & Son team to understand exactly what was needed and deliver it without complication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSisk has been amazing,\u201d<\/em> said the Birmingham Playcare Network team. \u201cIt\u2019s a pleasure to work with Matt, who has gone above and beyond with helping us on this initiative. We are very much looking forward to working more together in the near future and developing the partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened next<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cCommunication was brilliant,\u201d said Pip from the Birmingham Playcare Network team. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n
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\u201cMatt and Rachel took the time to hear more about the entire project they were supporting, and are now in the throes of negotiating further support with this project both financially and logistically, which is amazing news. There will be lots of very happy children.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A logistics request became the beginning of a lasting partnership \u2013 proof that when businesses and community organisations find each other on Match My Project, the impact rarely stops at the first delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Match My Project<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Match My Project <\/a>connects community organisations with local businesses to deliver Social Value. Every project is verified by the contracting authority before it goes live. On average it takes community organisations eight minutes to add a project to the platform. Get in touch at hello@matchmyproject.org to find out how your organisation can get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

How Birmingham City Council\u2019s Match My Project site connected a construction firm with a children\u2019s charity to get 40 bespoke activity packs to long-term hospitalised children the same month they were made Why play matters to Birmingham Playcare Network Birmingham Playcare Network has been championing children\u2019s right to play in Birmingham for years. As the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,23,44],"tags":[56,60,62,61,8],"class_list":["post-2688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-study","category-authority","category-community","tag-birmingham-city-council","tag-birmingham-playcare-network","tag-community","tag-john-sisk-son","tag-social-value","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"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=2688"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2699,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2688\/revisions\/2699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}