---
title: "MFCF Back In Play (2026-2027)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e849"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e849"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e849.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e849.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland"
published: "2026-08-20"
---

# MFCF Back In Play (2026-2027)

Buyer: The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e849

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## Summary

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, through Cleveland’s Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV), commissioned community violence-reduction services from Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation. The requirement combines two complementary strands: Back in Play, supporting rehabilitation, employability and positive reintegration for individuals in HMP Holme House; and Anti-Knife Crime Education, a preventative programme for Year 5 and Year 6 pupils in primary schools identified as serious-violence hotspots. The work addresses weapons-enabled violence, vulnerability and offending behaviour by strengthening protective factors, improving life opportunities and reducing involvement in violence. It is a community action programme and provision of services to the community, delivered across Cleveland.

The procurement is complete and the contract was awarded to Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation. It used a below-threshold direct award without competition under the applicable UK legal basis. The single lot and award are recorded as complete, with the award shown as pending. The award value is £30,000 gross, including £30,000 net, in GBP. The contract period runs from 1 September 2026 to 31 March 2027, with a possible maximum extension to 31 March 2028. A signature milestone is scheduled for 28 August 2026. The initial funding is £30,000; any extension depends on further funding being awarded to the contracting authority. The stated procurement category is services.

This requirement indicates demand for specialist community violence-reduction delivery combining custodial rehabilitation, employability and reintegration support with preventative knife-crime education in primary schools. A credible future competitor would need experience of working with people in custody and supporting rehabilitation into positive community participation, alongside the ability to design and deliver age-appropriate safeguarding-led education for younger pupils. Strong partnership working with police, schools, communities, specified authorities and other stakeholders would be important, as would the capacity to operate across Cleveland and respond to locally identified serious-violence risks. The selected supplier is a voluntary, community and social enterprise, so organisations with comparable community-sector delivery experience and partnership capability are well placed.

## Notice

Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) are established to provide leadership and strategic coordination in addressing serious violence. Cleveland's VRU, known locally as CURV (Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence), aims to achieve this by strengthening partnerships, engaging with communities, and ensuring that specified authorities, partners and key stakeholders work collaboratively. CURV commissioned a Strategic Needs Assessment (SNA) which provided an in-depth analysis of the causes and drivers of serious violence across Cleveland. The assessment identified weapons-enabled violence, vulnerability factors and offending behaviours as key challenges affecting local communities and highlighted the importance of targeted interventions that strengthen protective factors, improve life opportunities and reduce the risk of involvement in violence. CURV proposes to commission Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation (MFC Foundation) to deliver two complimentary strands of violence reduction activity between 1st September 2026 and 31st March 2027: Back in Play, a targeted intervention supporting rehabilitation, employability and positive reintegration for individuals within HMP Holme House, and Anti-Knife Crime Education, a preventative programme delivered within identified serious violence hotspot primary schools, focused on Year 5 and Year 6 pupils approaching the transition to secondary education.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079321-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - without competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 20 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | 1 Sep 2026 - 31 Mar 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £30,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland |
| Locality | STOCKTON ON TEES |
| Postcode area | Cleveland |
| Postcode | TS17 6QW |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC3 Tees Valley |
| ITL 3 | TLC31 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees |
| Local authority | Stockton-on-Tees |
| Electoral ward | Mandale & Victoria |
| Westminster constituency | Middlesbrough and Thornaby East |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MIDDLESBROUGH FOOTBALL CLUB FOUNDATION |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 75 - Administration, defence and social security services
- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 75200000 - Provision of services to the community
- 85322000 - Community action programme

## Release History

- 20 Aug 2026 at 10:32 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079321-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079321-2026
  20th August 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e849. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e849.json.