Match My Project making a difference to community groups

Community groups across the East Midlands are making a difference thanks to support from the Mayor.

The East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) – led by Mayor Claire Ward – joined Match My Project a year ago and has hailed the first 12 months of delivery.

Match My Project is a marketplace platform designed to pair businesses with community-driven projects needing support, boosting the positive impact companies can have across the East Midlands.

Local community groups are invited to request support for their projects via the platform, such as funding, volunteers, materials or expertise. Suppliers can then browse the projects and ‘match’ with those they can support, delivering the requested support for free. 

Mayor Claire said: “It’s great to see what Match My Project – which is all about ensuring that benefits from public investment flow into communities – has enabled over the past year. Businesses have been generous, sharing surplus materials, as well as their time, skills and funding, and the results have been as diverse and interesting as our communities.” 

“From growing native trees and supporting young people to providing clothing and helping community centres keep their doors open, the projects featured here are making a difference in communities right across the East Midlands.” 

“I’m pleased EMCCA has been able to establish something so useful with the support of Match My Project, and I hope we can help many more businesses and community organisations find each other and work together over the year ahead.”

Sherwood Forest Trust

Sherwood Forest Trust runs a community tree nursery where a staff member and eight regular volunteers collect seed from Sherwood’s native trees and grow it for new and restored woodland.

After a mast year, the team collected more than 30,000 acorns. The nursery needed more capacity to grow the young oak trees, but did not have the budget for the timber needed to build additional raised beds.

TalarMade contributed £508 towards the timber and fittings, alongside five hours of volunteering time. The Trust could then expand the nursery and make use of the acorns already collected.

The trust described the support as “such a helpful contribution to growing more Sherwood Forest native trees with the community who live here”.

The nursery is also a place for people to get involved. About 50 people are expected to volunteer there each year, with a further 200-plus reached through schools and learning events.

The project has also opened the door to an ongoing relationship, with TalarMade already in touch with the trust about future fundraising opportunities.

Sharewear Clothing Scheme

 Sharewear Clothing Scheme provides free clothing to people experiencing clothing poverty across the East Midlands. It works with about 250 local agencies and charities that refer people for support, as well as 130 outreach organisations that receive clothing.

Last year alone, Sharewear recorded more than 23,000 clothing interventions, supporting more than 9,000 people.

The organisation relies on a steady supply of good-quality clothing, shoes, towels and bedding. Its work also keeps usable items in circulation, with 86 tonnes of clothing donated for reuse in its original purpose over the previous year.

Its Match My Project request was deliberately open, looking for surplus stock, end-of-line items, returns and other good-quality products which could be passed on to people who needed them.

EMCCA responded with a clothing donation, including many individual donations, building a reliable supply that can be distributed through Sharewear’s network.

Will Garvey Trust

The Will Garvey Trust Foundation works to prevent young suicide through early intervention.

Its work includes Wellbeing Libraries, Wellbeing Care Packs and workshops for schools, colleges and youth groups.

When the Trust requested 20 branded running vests, the aim was to support young people fundraising for the charity. The vests gave runners something to wear and a visible connection to the cause they were supporting. They also helped encourage young people to take part in running events, spend time outdoors and build a sense of community around the charity’s work.

McConnell supplied the vests, alongside an hour of time.

A foundation spokesperson said: “Thank you so much for supporting WTF. The running vests look amazing and our runners will be proud to wear them with the logo so prominent. We’re incredibly grateful.” 

YMCA Robin Hood

At YMCA Robin Hood Group, a project began with a request from children and young people themselves.

One of the organisation’s homes in Nottinghamshire supports children and young people in care. They wanted to build a chicken coop, creating an opportunity to learn practical skills, take responsibility for animals and spend time connecting with nature.

The YMCA needed construction expertise as well as materials. Lovell East Midlands contributed £1,000 and five hours of time, working with a specialist joiner from Full On Joinery to bring the idea to life.

YMCA thanked Lovells for donating a chicken coop, which was specifically requested by the young people in their care. This gave the young people opportunities to develop communication, teamwork, confidence and practical construction skills along the way.

The Tin Hat Centre

The Tin Hat Centre in Selston has 24 years of experience providing community services. It offers a place for people to meet, access support, find affordable food, receive advice and take part in community activities.

Its request on Match My Project was for £1,000 towards core running costs, including staffing, utilities, insurance and everyday expenses. With rising operating costs and less access to unrestricted funding, that support would help the centre continue its work in the local community.

McConnell provided the full £1,000 requested. The Tin Hat Centre said the contribution helped it continue providing essential services and support, and praised the communication throughout the process.

Community-led Match My Project

As well as community-led projects – where a community organisation posts a project and suppliers can then browse and match against those opportunities – there are also supplier-led options.

Suppliers can post resources directly for community organisations to match against.

Click here for further information.