Invitation to tender for an evaluation and impact assessment of the work of the Travellers Transforming Conflict Initiative (TTCI)

Introduction

Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service (EHINTS)

Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service (EHINTS) has over 40 years’ experience providing Traveller specific professional, front-line family support, counselling and psychotherapy, crisis intervention, education, training and services for children and young people in Ireland. EHINTS is one of the largest Traveller specific service providers in the country and is comprised of Travellers and non-Travellers who endeavour to have our working environment reflect the wider society we would like to see. EHINTS team of trained therapists and social workers are skilled in trauma work. Travellers accessing the services are offered a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary and holistic approach to their concerns.

Traveller Counselling Service (TCS)

The Traveller Counselling Service was launched in February 2008, initially as a one-year pilot project which has since developed into a national counselling service, that provides counselling to Travellers throughout Ireland by phone, online and in person. The service works from a culturally inclusive framework that respects Traveller culture, identity, values and norms and works from a perspective of culturally centred counselling and psychotherapy. TCS also provides an advocacy service for clients of TCS who need with support other issues impacting on their lives such as the criminal justice, accommodation addiction service and child protection issues among many others. Likewise, the service provides community development that support local Traveller groups to develop structures and actions to address the mental health needs of Travellers ion local areas. At present the TCS see clients from 19 counties in Ireland and also have supported the establishment of Traveller specific counselling in Northern Ireland

Traveller Mediation Service (TMS)

The Traveller Mediation Service (TMS), is a national service based in Athlone, Co Westmeath. TMS is a partnership initiative, supported by Restorative Justice in the Community (RJC) and funded by the Department of Equality. We work to assist our clients and stakeholders to find ways to prevent, manage, and transform conflicts peacefully and effectively. TMS accepts mediation case referrals from Travellers, communities, and agencies. TMS also promotes and delivers a number of training programmers in the area of conflict prevention and intervention.

Our work

The Travellers Transforming Conflict Initiative (TTCI) is a collaboration between Exchange House Ireland National Travellers Service, Traveller Mediation Service and Traveller Counselling Service. The initiative is supported with funding from the Dormant Accounts Fund and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (DCDE), previously DCDEIY.

The initiative comprises of a number of related strands;

• Young Peoples Conflict Skills Programmes,
• Trauma-informed Family Therapy and Counselling,
• Family Support Access services,
• National awareness-campaign,
• Research and policy development,
• National conferences and communications.

The work of the TTCI has been funded through the Dormant Accounts fund process which is temporary in nature. This has concentrated the work programmes and overall initiative to shorter-term aims and objectives and the initiative has not been in a position to include longer-term goal-setting or planning as part of its remit.

A steering group comprising of personnel from all three organisations, ensuring a membership of Travellers and non-Travellers, provide oversight and direction for the project. Initiative updates are provided to the DCDE via EHINTS, on a regular basis. Additional meetings, updates, communications between the DCDE and the TTCI steering group are facilitated via EHINTS. Funding for the project was initially administrated to each organisation separately but since 2024, EHINTS accepted a central coordinating function, and all funding for the initiative is administrated via this organisation.

The initiative is currently recruiting a project worker to support the further rolling out and embedding of the awareness-raising campaign nationally, the accessible dissemination of the research report nationally and provision of local, bespoke support and training for local organisations in responding to violent inter-family conflict.

Key achievements of the initiative to date include: two national conferences, one research report, a national awareness-raising campaign, video production and specific work strands from each individual organisation.

Aims of evaluation and impact assessment

The TTCI steering group wishes to undertake a comprehensive research project which will document the work and evaluate its impact, with a particular emphasis on the period 2022 - present date.

Please see tender document attached below for further information.

Please address email tenders to: ceo@exchangehouse.ie by 5pm on Friday July 31st 2025.