Radio 4 aired an important and rare insight into the work of public service interpreting. This is how they describe the programme: How does it feel to be a voice for the voiceless? This radio documentary gives a fascinating insight into the gruelling work of public service interpreters in the UK, through the personal story…
SIS Projects’ Team received a referral for our Bilingual Befriending Project from another organisation in Sussex. The referrer told us about a service user who they felt could benefit from having weekly phone calls with one of our befriending volunteers. One of our Volunteer Linguists contacted the service user to explain the project to him. …
We welcome the announcement that Brighton & Hove City Council has offered to support the government`s resettlement programme for Afghan interpreters and locally employed staff – the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Programme (ARAP). “We stand ready to help and are clear Afghanistan’s refugees are welcome in the city. We are working to support those who…
In the last 6 months, we have seen our mental health work grow by a quarter. Crisis, acute and inpatient support has increased 3-fold. We are playing a vital role in helping some of the most vulnerable people access mental health services. Behind each number is a story. Here is one that shows the importance…
We are thrilled to have achieved an unprecedented 8 areas of Compliance Plus in Customer Service Excellence! www.customerserviceexcellence.uk.com There is a rigorous external examination of how we work with NHS and Local Authority customers, partners, service users and staff. We have worked tremendously hard in the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment of the pandemic.…
We asked staff members, a trustee and a linguist about 2020 and the impact of the pandemic on their work with SIS. Here is an edited version of their interesting responses. With thanks to Nadine, Vikki, Sue, Matt, Aidan and Shahreen. What was your biggest challenge in the last year? Nadine Zeytoun (Community…
We recently interpreted for a family with 2 children with cystic fibrosis. This involved a 2 hour review with an interpreter attending at the Royal Alexander Children`s Hospital. The Consultant was fantastic. He was able to demonstrate very clearly to the family how to administer medication. He used chest x-rays of the children to explain…
I am currently working as an Interpreter in Sussex with a migrant woman, who we will refer to as individual (A) to protect her anonymity. I have also not included all of the sensitive medical details which make this woman vulnerable. (A) contracted COVID-19 and as a result had to be admitted…
Everyone at SIS tries their best to help. We appreciate that we are working with some of the most vulnerable and isolated people. At this terrible time this is even more the case. In the last 9 months of the pandemic emergency interpreting has almost doubled as a proportion of our work. We can be…
The research had been conducted in B&H, Crawley and Hastings, by a partnership of TDC, SIS and Hangleton and Knoll, together with VIE the Network of Int women and Fresh Youth Perspective. Far more people had been interviewed in B&H than in the other location. All agreed that the partners had done an excellent job…
