Scope
Description
NELFT invite local voluntary and community organisations to apply for a contract to recruit and provide culturally-informed and community-connected Peer Support Workers to join our Mental Health and Wellness Teams (MHWT) in Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking & Dagenham and Havering.
Our MHWT provide specialist support for adults (18+) with moderate to serious mental health challenges, using multi-disciplinary teams to assess needs and develop plans that promote wellbeing and independence.
Peer Support Workers build recovery-focused, therapeutic relationships, using their own lived experience to inspire hope and empower service users. They support care planning, hold caseloads, connect individuals with community resources, promote holistic wellbeing, and help service users navigate practical and social opportunities, while maintaining resilience and safely sharing their own experiences.
The programme will run for three years with ongoing evaluation and co-production, aiming to build a leading person-centred mental health service.
Targeted Focus and Innovation
We have identified gaps through data and lived experiences showing some groups face poorer access and outcomes. The new Peer Support model will focus on these underserved demographics, working alongside local voluntary and community organisations to reduce inequalities and strengthen inclusion. These areas for improvement include, but are not limited to:
• Increase awareness of the full range of available mental health services beyond anxiety and depression.
• Provide longer-duration support with timely access and structured follow-up.
• Deliver culturally competent care with PSWs matched to service users' backgrounds.
• Ensure equitable access by addressing structural barriers, promoting clear complaint processes, and improving language diversity and support.
• Design culturally relevant sessions incorporating mentorship and faith/community-informed approaches.
• Support engagement by addressing isolation and the effects of generational trauma.
• Provide culturally appropriate group and 1:1 interventions, connected to wider community resources.
Providers are expected to propose innovative approaches and service improvements informed by specialist knowledge, experience working with local communities and feedback from service users, carers, and community partners.
Peer Support Delivery Expectations
Group Provision
• Deliver culturally informed, co-designed sessions
• Incorporate cultural elements (music, movement, cooking)
• Target groups by demographic for cultural safety (e.g., younger/older Black men, South Asian women)
• Facilitate links to wider community resources
• Prioritise community-based delivery
1:1 Provision
• Offer flexible, trust-building individual sessions
• Match PSWs and service users by lived experience or culture
• Help navigate services and prepare individuals for group/community participation
• Use sharing of lived experience to promote recovery, reduce stigma, and model hope
Total value (estimated)
- £221,288 excluding VAT
- £221,288 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2027
- Possible extension to 30 April 2029
- 3 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 85323000 - Community health services
Contract locations
- UKI52 - Barking & Dagenham and Havering
- UKI53 - Redbridge and Waltham Forest
Engagement
Engagement deadline
15 December 2025
Engagement process description
This pre-procurement exercise will allow NELFT to engage directly and collaboratively with potential providers to:
• Aid with procurement process design.
• Determine the level of provider interest.
• Help enable providers to participate in the process.
• Inform development of service specification/s and collaborative service delivery options.
• Help shape the commissioning and contracting process.
Initial Market Briefing Event
This session will be held in person and is limited to two attendees per supplier.
Event Details:
Date: Friday, 12th December 2025
• Time: 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• Venue: West Wing, CEME Innovation Centre, Marsh Way, Rainham, Essex, RM13 8GQ
Submit expression of interest via Atamis portal (Reference is C402943)
Participation
Particular suitability
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Submission
Publication date of tender notice (estimated)
23 December 2025
Contracting authority
North East London NHS Foundation Trust
- NHS Organisation Data Service: RAT
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PHHT-9556-BWJJ
CEME Centre - West Wing, Marsh Way
Essex
RM13 8GQ
United Kingdom
Region: UKI52 - Barking & Dagenham and Havering
Organisation type: Public authority - central government