{"id":2817,"date":"2026-07-21T11:39:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T11:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/?p=2817"},"modified":"2026-07-21T11:40:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T11:40:54","slug":"the-buggy-named-maisey-and-the-biggest-carnival-peabody-has-ever-thrown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/2026\/07\/21\/the-buggy-named-maisey-and-the-biggest-carnival-peabody-has-ever-thrown\/","title":{"rendered":"The buggy named Maisey, and the biggest carnival Peabody has ever thrown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How balloons, bunting and a buggy helped create a day 300 people will remember<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

For the past five years, Peabody\u2019s Care and Support team<\/a> has brought together people from its learning disability services for one day of celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, they decided to make it a carnival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 300 people gathered at Cressing Temple Barns in Braintree for Peabody\u2019s biggest event yet. The programme featured a Take That tribute act, the Panther Steel Band, performances inspired by The Greatest Showman<\/em>, samba music and dancing, alongside local vendors serving jacket potatoes, pizza and ice cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people arrived in colourful costumes. Some people  even made their own musical instruments to carry in the carnival procession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event was designed around one simple principle: everyone should be able to enjoy the day and feel included. Entry was free. Food and drinks were free too. And every guest also received a reusable cup to take home as a reminder of the celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The final pieces of the puzzle<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Peabody had already committed fundraising to make the carnival free for everyone attending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What remained was finding the finishing touches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team needed carnival decorations, including balloons, bunting and flags, delivered before 30 June so everything could be in place ahead of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Match My Project<\/a>, A3 Relocation Solutions<\/a> supplied carnival decorations and recyclable cups, while Parking Control Management donated reusable Peabody-branded cups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These contributions helped create the welcoming atmosphere Peabody had imagined from the beginning and gave every guest something to take home at the end of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sue Allison, Head of Services for People with Learning Disabilities in Essex, expressed appreciation for the support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cA massive thank you, really responsive and great products.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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A celebration built by many hands<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Peabody colleagues entered the Colchester Half Marathon to raise money for the carnival, adding their own efforts to the contributions made through Match My Project. Together, colleagues, suppliers and community partners all played a part in bringing the event to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet Maisey<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every event has a moment people remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this carnival, it was Maisey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pete Wardle, who manages Cressing Temple Barns, offered the use of his work buggy for the procession. Decorated with balloons and bunting, Maisey became one of the stars of the day, carrying the carnival through the grounds to the delight of the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

More than a day out<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Peabody has spent years creating opportunities that help people build confidence, independence and stronger social connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The carnival brought these ambitions together in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day brought hundreds of people together to celebrate, connect and simply enjoy themselves. They arrived in colourful costumes, carried handmade instruments through the procession, danced with friends and took home memories that reached far beyond a single afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every contribution helped turn Peabody\u2019s plans into a richer experience. More than that, the partnerships formed through the carnival have created connections that Peabody can continue building on long after the bunting comes down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s to more opportunities for inclusion.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Match My Project<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Match My Project<\/a>\u00a0connects community organisations with local businesses to deliver Social Value. Get in touch at hello@matchmyproject.org to find out how your organisation can get started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How balloons, bunting and a buggy helped create a day 300 people will remember For the past five years, Peabody\u2019s Care and Support team has brought together people from its learning disability services for one day of celebration. This year, they decided to make it a carnival. More than 300 people gathered at Cressing Temple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[14,10,34,76,7],"class_list":["post-2817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-study","tag-csr","tag-local-impact","tag-matchmyproject","tag-peabody-carnival","tag-social-impact","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817","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=2817"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2827,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817\/revisions\/2827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journal.matchmyproject.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}