Request for Quotation
Kildare County Council Library & Arts Service seeks to award a contract for services for a Project Coordinator, to support the coordination and evaluation of ‘Did I Ever Tell You’, a creative health and wellbeing project taking place across counties Kildare, Offaly and Westmeath.
About ‘Did I Ever Tell You’
‘Did I Ever Tell You’ is a storytelling project, focused on collecting the thoughts and memories from older people in six HSE healthcare settings across counties Kildare, Offaly, and Westmeath. This project is supported by the Creative Ireland Programme under the Creative Health & Wellbeing in the Community Scheme working in partnership with Kildare County Council, Offaly County Council and Westmeath County Council.
Through this project, creative practitioners will collaborate with older people in each care setting through a variety of creative artforms, and provide a bespoke programme of creative and artistic engagement over the period Sept 2024-Dec 2025. The project seeks to support positive mental health, improve wellbeing, and promote positive ageing through creative participation.
Selected stories from each county will be published as a collective celebratory booklet, which will be shared widely across Age Friendly, Healthy Ireland, and Creative Ireland networks in each county.
Creative programmes will take place in a selection of community nursing units and a hospital palliative care unit in the towns of Naas, Birr, Edenderry, Tullamore, Mullingar and Athlone.
Services Required
The project partners Kildare County Council, Offaly County Council, and Westmeath County Council welcome applications from suitably qualified arts and health project managers, consultants or researchers for the role of Project Coordinator.
The Project Coordinator will be the primary point of contact for the Local Authority project partners, HSE stakeholders, and creative practitioners. They will manage the development of the ‘Did I Ever Tell You’ celebratory booklet, and complete a project evaluation documenting the health and wellbeing impacts of the project on its participants.
Role & Responsibilities:
The Project Coordinator will:
· Lead the development and publication of the tri-county booklet, in alignment with the provided timeline (see Appendix 1);
· Distribute, collate, and review participant evaluation forms, and report the results to the local authority partners via a series of three evaluation reports (pre-, mid-, and post-programme). This evaluation must document the purpose of the project, its development, and the impacts on the participants’ health and wellbeing;
· Liaise with the creative artist/practitioner(s) in each county and facilitate networking opportunities between them;
· Provide regular updates to the local authority partners regarding the project’s progress and the development of the booklet and evaluation (monthly or bi-monthly);
· Gather and collate quality documentation of each creative project (including photos, videos, testimonials) to be used in the project booklet and evaluation, including consent forms;
· Work with the artists/creative practitioners to identify key stories from each county, and possible presentation methods, for inclusion in the booklet;
· Organise a final launch and publication event, in collaboration with the local authorities;
· Budget Management: Manage project costs and funding allocations.
Timeline:
The successful applicant with be contracted for service from September 2024 – December 2025. Please refer to Appendix 1 for key dates and schedule of deliverables.
Supports Available:
The Local Authority partnership will provide a standardised evaluation form, to be used with participants across all counties as a quantitative evaluation method. The Project Coordinator will be responsible for the creation of additional qualitative reporting methods, in collaboration with the artists/creative practitioners and HSE staff.
The local authorities will hire and manage the artists/creatives working in each HSE care setting. The Project Coordinator is not responsible for managing the artists/creatives or their individual creative engagement programmes taking place in the HSE care settings. Rather the Project Coordinator is responsible for facilitating artist/creative networking and collaboration events, and leading the development of the collective booklet and evaluation.
The local authorities may provide support towards the artist/creative networking and collaboration events via the provision of venues, catering, materials, and artist fees/expenses, subject to advance approval by the host county.
Remuneration:
The total budget for the contract for services will not exceed €13,000 inclusive of VAT and any other expenses incurred in connection with the delivery of services.
Payment for services will be made on a phased basis, as follows: · 1/3 upon signing of the contractual agreement; · 1/3 in January 2025 · 1/3 upon submission of approval of the final designed booklet and evaluation report.*
*Please note that the final payment is subject to budget confirmation at the end of 2024 by Creative Ireland/TCAGSM.
How to Quote for this Service Contract
Applicant submissions for this service contract must be submitted via this form.
Application to include:
- A short professional resume/CV demonstrating your experience relevant to the role.
- A brief outline how you plan to meet the requirements of the role (no more than 800 words).
- A full quotation for the provision of the above project co-ordination and evaluation services (to a maximum of €13,000).
- A declaration that you are VAT Registered and will be able to supply a tax clearance certificate to Kildare County Council, if successful.
- A declaration that you will be able to indemnify Kildare County Council in respect of professional services provided under your public liability policy.
- A declaration that you have a current Driver’s license and access to your own transport, if appointed.
Submission Deadline: 5pm on Thursday 22 August, 2024.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview online via Teams on August 27th or 28th.
Email any enquiries about this contract to Colleen Werle, Creative Communities Engagement Officer at creative@kildarecoco.ie. Please also CC arts@kildarecoco.ie with your enquiry.
APPENDIX 1
Schedule of Deliverables:
The below is an indicative timeline. Please note that some deadlines may be subject to change. In addition to the below, the Project Coordinator must provide regular update meetings to the local authority partners (monthly or bi-monthly, depending on the phase of the project).
Early September 2024:
· Project initiation & handover meeting with local authority partners (x1 in person)
Sept - October 2024:
· Project initiation meetings with HSE care centres & artist/creative practitioners (x 6 in person)
· Conduct Evaluation pt 1 (surveys x 6 centres)
· Commence project documentation & consent collation (in collaboration with artists/staff)
· Organise artist networking/sharing events (x2)
· October 31st: Deadline for Pre-Programme Evaluation Report # 1
Nov/Dec 2024:
· Project review meeting with local authorities. Planning for 2025.
Jan-June 2025:
· Conduct Evaluation pt 2 (surveys x 6 centres)
· Project documentation & consent collation (ongoing, in collaboration with artists/HSE staff)
· Organise artist networking/sharing events and booklet content planning (x3)
· May 30th: Deadline for Booklet content plan (developed in collaboration with the artists/creatives, for presentation to local authorities for editorial review)
· June 30th: Deadline for Mid-Programme Evaluation Report # 2
July-Oct 2025:
· Conduct Evaluation Pt 3 (surveys x6 centres)
· Liaise with book design/print company and lead on booklet development (booklet design and print budget provided by the local authorities)
· Finalise booklet designs, with editorial oversight from the local authority partners
· Organise artist networking/sharing events (x3)
· Plan launch event for booklet (in consultation with local authorities)
Nov-Dec 2025:
· Deadline for End of Programme Evaluation Report #3
· Final Print and Publication of “Did I Ever Tell You” booklet
· Launch event
Selection Criteria
In order to demonstrate that they can deliver the key responsibilities of the contract, the successfully contracted provider must:
1. Have significant work experience working in a project coordination role, preferably in community arts or health and wellbeing projects with creative teams.
2. Have demonstrable experience and understanding of quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods and reporting.
3. Have strong leadership skills and experience in collaborating and working cross-functionally with diverse stakeholders.
4. Have excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and multi-task.
5. Have satisfactory ICT skills with comprehensive working knowledge of office productivity tools.
6. Have experience of budget preparation and management.
7. Be able to demonstrate competence in personal effectiveness.
8. Have the capacity to work on own initiative and to contribute well to a team-based environment.
9. Have satisfactory knowledge of GDPR requirements.
10. Knowledge of grief, loss and/or mental wellbeing for older persons, along with the role of creative work in supporting their wellbeing, would be an advantage.
The successful service provider will work from their own premises and will attend training sessions and meetings in person, as and when required. The contractor will be subject to Garda vetting.
Assessment
Each application will be scored based on the information supplied in accordance with the following criteria and scoring. Applicants may be required to attend for interview.
Criteria Scoring:
Evidence of relevant expertise: Experience in project coordination and management; Expertise in evaluation methodologies and reporting; Contextual understanding of arts and health development programming. [30 marks]
Skills and competencies: To include leadership and collaboration, interpersonal, communication, presentation and organisational skills. [30 marks]
Demonstrated understanding of the brief: The proposal must address the expectations, timelines and deliverables as highlighted in the brief document, including a proposed methodology. [20 marks]
Value for money. The proposed itemised budget shall be inclusive of VAT, where relevant, with a detailed breakdown of service rates. [20 marks]
TOTAL [100 marks]