External Evaluator

Footprints Women's Centre

8a Colinmill Poleglass Belfast BT17

20 Jun 2008

Helen Matthews

Positive Steps
Programme Evaluation
Footprints Women’s Centre is seeking to appoint an External Evaluator to examine the work undertaken by their Positive Steps Programme which has been delivered between May 2007 and June 2008.

Background The Positive Steps Programme is funded by the European Union Peace & Reconciliation Programme through Training for Women Network (TWN).

Positive Steps was funded with the aim to recruit women from the Poleglass and Greater Colin Neighbourhood Area to participate in an innovative range of personal development, ICT, and management skills. The programme was to lead to opportunities for work placement, full time or part time employment and/or further training opportunities.

Positive Steps was developed because of a continuing need to enable women to develop employability skills that would provide them with opportunities to develop valuable employability skills that would provide them with opportunities to enter employment.

The Positive Steps Programme offered a package of support designed to address the needs of women. This included ongoing advice and guidance, childcare, together with key employability skills.

In addition the programme aimed to give participants a real opportunity to have the confidence to seek work and career advancement.

Training and development opportunities to be offered by the programme:

• OCN Level 1 Confidence Building and Personal Building
• British Computer Society (BCS) Level 1 European Computer Driving LicenceILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) Level 3 Introductory Certificate in ManagementILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) Level 3 Certificate in Management

The objectives of the project include:

• To recruit 10 women onto the project
• 10 women to gain at least one qualification
• 8 participants to gain 2 to 3 qualifications
• 5 women to progress onto further training and development opportunities
• A minimum of 70% of women leaving the project to move onto further training
• 3 women to secure part or full time employment or to advance in their current roles.

The evaluation will be conducted throughout the months of June and July 2008 with a final draft submitted by the end of July, for publication by early August 2008.

The total budget for this evaluation will be £2k to include ALL direct and indirect expenses. A final payment of not less than 50% of the total cost of the evaluation will be paid on successful completion and submission of the final written report.

We are inviting evaluation proposals including full costings to be submitted to:

Helen Matthews
Programme Manager
Footprints Women’s centre
Poleglass
Belfast
BT17

By 12 noon on Friday 20 June 2008.

If more than one evaluator is short listed we intend to carry out interviews during the week of 23 June 2008.

The final Certificate Presentation for the Programme will take place on Thursday 26 June 2008. It is a requirement that the evaluator should visit the Centre on that day to make arrangements with women to undertake the evaluation thereafter.