Refugee English Language Teaching and Cultural Integration Support

Tender description

The City of Edinburgh Council (the Council) is seeking to re-procure adult English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and cultural integration support activities for refugees arriving in Edinburgh under UK Government refugee resettlement support programmes. The Council is funded by the UK Government to support the integration of refugees resettled under the United Kingdom Resettlement (UKRS) and Afghan Citizens Relocation (ACRS) schemes to which the Council has an ongoing commitment of resettling 150 people per year. Lot 1: Refugee English Language Teaching and Cultural Integration Activities The service entails the provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) assessment and classes, and cultural integration activities (e.g. discussion groups on aspects of UK culture, visits to important historic and cultural venues, opportunities to meet and mix with longer-standing communities) that support vulnerable men, women and children and assist them to integrate into local communities. There have been cultural benefits from involving specialist third sector providers (e.g. more community-based approaches, access to large and culturally diverse volunteer groups) which the Council is keen to ensure service users continue to benefit from. The intention of this procurement project is to place a Contract involving specialist third sector providers for the continuing provision of cultural integration activities and language tuition for the next two years with the option to extend for a further two 12 month periods (2+1+1). Lot 2: Women Only Refugee English Language Teaching and Cultural Integration Support The service entails the provision of Women Only English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) assessment and classes, and cultural integration activities (e.g. discussion groups on aspects of UK culture, visits to important historic and cultural venues, opportunities to meet and mix with longer-standing communities) that support vulnerable men, women and children and assist them to integrate into local communities. There have been cultural benefits from involving specialist third sector providers (e.g. more community-based approaches, access to large and culturally diverse volunteer groups) which the Council is keen to ensure service users continue to benefit from. The intention of this procurement project is to place a Contract involving specialist third sector providers for the continuing provision of cultural integration activities and language tuition for the next two years with the option to extend for a further two 12 month periods (2+1+1).