ABOUT US

As a global movement of more than 10 million people, Amnesty International is the world's largest grassroots human rights organisation. We investigate and expose abuses, educate and mobilise the public, and help transform societies to create a safer, more just world. We received the Nobel Peace Prize for our life-saving work. Amnesty International UK (AIUK) is a national section of this global movement. We have around half a million supporters, members and activists in the UK.                                           

PROJECT BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

The vision of People & Culture at AIUK is to be a progressive, trusted employer of choice. We believe that we need a culture which embraces diversity and is inclusive and where that comes naturally to us. While we recognise we have a way to go, we strive to be a leading employer in this area and influence the sector at large to reach the highest possible standards for diversity and inclusion. 

A recent review of our wellbeing support and benefits at AIUK has shown people feel supported by their managers and experience positive relationships between colleagues. It also identified areas where we could improve and has led us to review and make sure we have the best support in place for our colleagues. We work on some challenging human rights issues and want to make sure our colleagues have the right tools to manage their own wellbeing, recognise potential triggers which may lead to poor mental health, and ultimately mitigate potential psychological harm. We also understand that supporting our colleagues to manage issues in their personal life e.g. medical diagnosis, poor mental health, financial or legal issues, will help them be able to bring their best selves to work. 

AIM

The provider would be expected to share to what extent they meet the following essential criteria: 

Essential (included in service costs) 

• A programme to cover 500 people who work/volunteer for AIUK – a mix of around 230 employees and other book shop volunteers, board members and lead activists. Expecting no more than 5 contacts to EAP per month based on approximate current usage.
• Same or more current provision for talking therapies – 6 free sessions
• 24/7 someone to speak to
• Service level agreement - to match someone with a counsellor and have first session within a reasonable timeframe.
• Quarterly reports on usage and for them to share data they collect with us.
• Counselling and specialist bereavement support
• Being able to be matched with a specialist counsellor in your area of need e.g.
• bereavement, menopause, substance abuse, bipolar, fertility etc. different areas of mental health.
• Multiple languages spoken
• Intercultural therapy specialists
• Bank of practitioners with different lived experiences of inequality
  • Cultural matching
  • LGBTQ+
  • Religion matching
  • Disability matching 
• Neurodiversity-specific support
• Phone, virtual and in-person options (where possible, ability to meet in near office or near home address)
• Being able to call from abroad
• Being able to triage and recommend other therapies which could be provided at an extra cost or should be provided by a different service
• Support with publicising and marketing their support
• Adherence to data protection

Desirable

• Support with publicising and marketing their support
• Support with returning to work after illness/staying in work with illness
• Educational sessions for the organisation
• Financial wellbeing education
• Psychological Assessments
• Wellbeing Groups
• General health and wellbeing advice and communications
• Coaching CBT/EDMR as an option to be approved by on case by case.
• Specialist trauma therapy as an options
• Specific to charity/human rights
• All practitioners have a base level understanding of systemic inequality and access.
• To include dependents and family members (otherwise downgrading provision)

SCOPE & SPECIFICATION

The budget is up to £7k inclusive of VAT per year. We will accept proposal options of what can be delivered if budget is increased, which can help us make a case for this internally. 

SUBMISSIONS / TIMELINE

If you are interested in submitting a proposal for this work, please contact Marianne Long on marianne.long@amnesty.org.uk for further information and submit proposals to Marianne by Monday 25th November 2024. 

Candidates are requested to provide a written proposal no longer than 4 pages which includes the following: 

• Contact details of tendering consultants
• Short summary (1-2 pages) of offering
• Details of similar customers
• Testimonials/feedback
• Breakdown of cost for different service elements 
• Examples of where you might turn down people for use of the service and how this is done compassionately
• Their feedback process and how they respond to feedback
• Whether there is a potential option to get demographic data on their clients.
• Diversity data on their practitioners

Our current EAP contract ends in 2024 and we need continuous provision so would need to work with the agreed provider from no later than beginning of January 2025. We may invite potential suppliers to a meeting to talk through your tender response and ask any questions we have about your proposal. This will be an online meeting arranged at a convenient time within 2 weeks after the closing date.