We had a wonderful 25 year celebration and AGM on 28th February 2020! Central to our success is the dedication of SIS Linguists. They were at the centre of our event. The Mayor, Councillor Alexandra Phillips, and Bert Williams MBE, President of Brighton & Hove Black History, and long-serving SIS member, presented Awards to 48…
When did you first come into contact with SIS? 1998 I arrived in the UK with my three children aged 14, 6 and 7 months. I was stopped by Immigration because the Portuguese ID card I was using was not genuine. Social Services were called because of the children, but I could not speak English,…
A call came through to the SIS Coordination Team from the Lewes Victoria Hospital. The Hospital can’t communicate with a patient and are concerned because he needs important treatment, and they don’t know if they have the correct home address for him. The GP Surgery he was registered at has returned their letter saying he…
The partner of a service user called on Friday afternoon, Valentine`s Day, to say that her husband was in A&E and needed an interpreter. She was anxious as there had been times recently when her husband was in A&E in the early hours of the morning when no interpreter was present as SIS had not…
NEVER AGAIN! SIS has a specific commitment to supporting Holocaust Memorial Day in our Equal Opportunity & Diversity Policy This year is the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the 25th Anniversary of the Bosnian Genocide. Last year, as Convener of Brighton & Hove Stand Up To Racism (BHSUTR), I was proud to…
We received the following feedback from a Clinical Psychologist: The Albanian Interpreter [Q] came in to do an afternoon interpreting session, even though she had only got home from holiday in the early hours of that morning (her late night did not negatively affect her interpreting, this was not a problem). Because she came in…
For 25 years SIS has provided language services at the heart of our BME communities. We are delighted to speak about this in our 2018-19 Annual Review. As our Chair Jen Henwood says – In this context , heart suggests the centre, the hub, the core, the nucleus and brings connotations of compassion, humanity and…
We recently responded to an emergency interpreting request from a local Maternity Department. The call came just before 21.00 on a Sunday evening. We provided an interpreter on site within an hour – our regular response time! 3 hours later were able to record another successful birth! We received this lovely feedback from the parents…
SIS was delighted to support our local Black History Family Day. This vibrant community event is part of Black History Month, founded to recognise the contributions that people of African and Caribbean backgrounds have made to this country over many generations. Black History Month has been celebrated for over 40 years and has expanded to…
SIS co-hosted a Vigil for the 39 migrants who tragically died in the back of a refrigerated lorry in the early hours of Wednesday morning. We wanted to show our concern and express our solidarity with our beneficiaries, many of whom are Migrants and some of whom have undertaken perilous journeys to reach the UK.…
