Equal opportunities consultancy services

Tender description

This tender is for project activity 4.3 ‘Interface Investment Programme’. This project is part of the ‘Shared Spaces and Services’ workplan for the council's PEACE IV programme. There is a fixed budget (ex VAT) as already indicated. For information, the amount for this tender has been agreed by the Peace IV Board and associated steering groups based on the amount of other funding in this area within council's own peace plan (in particular in relation to the Waterside Shared Village Intervention) and knowledge of the wider reconciliation / good relations funding context in each area (including IFI Peace Walls Programme, Urban Villages and DOJ interfaces monies managed by council). The PEACE IV Interface investment programme will focus on areas of work which complement and do not duplicate other areas of existing funding. Specifically the programme will focus on: — Sustained cross community contact in all proposed programmes. I.e. Cross-community programmes engaging residents from both sides of the interface in question which ensure regular meaningful and purposeful contact of 6 months / 26 weeks or more and absolute minimum contact time of 30 hours. The bulk of suggested activities in any tender bid should have significantly more than this minimum contact time and weekly contact is recommended. Programmes should aim to ‘normalise’ contact on shared interests and create cross-community friendships. Programmes can choose to focus on a range of ages and identities as relevant to the needs of the area e.g. Children, youth, women, men, families, older people. Methodologies are at the discretion of the tenderer but may include for example courses, site visits, dialogues, community events, sport, culture, music or anything evidenced as appropriate to meet the required outputs. Single-identity work is not eligible in this intervention. — Issues and physical manifestations around transforming contested space into shared space e.g. flags, emblems, graffiti, parades, kerbs, walls, sectarian murals, and any permanent physical manifestations of territorial marking ideally as focused programmes or as significant elements built in to all programmes. Minor physical works specifically relevant to this can be included as part of a sustained programme agreed with residents. — Peace and reconciliation focused attitudinal programmes i.e. programmes of interest to local residents which allow participants to explore issues and develop a better understanding of and respect for sensitive historical, cultural, political and religious diversity, racism and sectarianism. These will ideally be focused programmes or as significant elements built into all programmes. — Dialogue focused programmes around making their communities and services and buildings within interface communities more shared and accessible to all. This could also include finding solutions to perceptions or realities of such buildings, services or public spaces not currently being accessible to all and using different spaces as part of the proposed programme. — Project steering group: All programmes must involve community engagement/planning based on existing or new evidence of need and interest from locally based groups and residents. They must also demonstrate lack of duplication with and complementarity/additionality to existing DOJ, DCSD, Urban Villages and IFI funding as relevant to each specific interface area. It is strongly recommended that a specific project steering group is established which enables all relevant and interested groups in the immediate interface area the opportunity to participate strategically. This may be as a defined part of an existing structure if a fully inclusive mechanism already exists or it may be a new grouping. — Programme Delivery: No Programme activity can be delivered in any school during school hours. It may however be delivered after school hours as part of the schools extra-curricular activities.