News
Meeting with Head of engagement of Brighton & Hove CCGToday SIS met with Jane Lodge, Head of Engagement for Brighton NHS Clinical Commissioning Group at the SIS offices in Brighton. It was an opportunity to show Jane what happens behind the scenes and how we manage the interpreter bookings from GP surgeries and other organisations. Jane spent time with Kate... Read More
Brighton Pride 2018SIS took part in this year’s Brighton Pride community parade with staff, interpreters and volunteers representing the organisation to 300,000 people who lined the route from Hove Lawns to Preston Park. The theme was ‘Carnival Of Diversity’ and our team held workshops putting together our specially made speech bubble signs... Read More
What do you think about “On-line” GP consultations?NHS Brighton and Hove CCG are consulting on a new initiative to introduce “on-line” GP consultations as a complimentary service to traditional face to face appointments. Although the CCG has done a vast amount of engagement across the area, they have noticed a lack of responses and input from BME communities.... Read More
Mole Check “Check a Mate” campaignAlbion in the Community has launched a “Check a Mate” mole check campaign this summer. AITC teamed up with NHS staff to offer free mole checks at the Take Part Festival at the The Level in June and at a football tournament in Preston Park on 26th July. Over 100... Read More
SIS video – A few headlines from our yearWe’ve made a short film about our year at Sussex Interpreting Services, sharing some facts and figures as well as looking ahead to what’s to come.Read More
Chocoholly Team Building!Working in a busy service it is important for us to take time out of the office together to do something unrelated. It helps us bond with newer colleagues and refresh our relationships. We were all excited to have the opportunity to be with trustees and to make chocolates! People... Read More
SCFT consultationSussex Community NHS Foundation Trust are consulting on the current 5 options being considered for redevelopment of the Brighton General site adjacent to Brighton Racecourse. The current consultation is focussed on how the site will be developed, the options range from very light touch to full redevelopment. There will be... Read More
Universal Credit Training for Volunteer LinguistsOn Monday 25th June, 11 of our team of Volunteer Linguists attended a training session on Universal Credit. The session was led by an excellent trainer and benefits specialist, Jayne Knights. The aim of the training was for Volunteer Linguists to be able to help Service Users to prepare for... Read More
2018 Ascentis Level 3 in Community Interpreting qualification cohortMany congratulations to the SIS cohort of 11 interpreters who have successfully completed the 14 week Ascentis ‘Level 3 Certificate in Community Interpreting’ qualification, delivered in partnership with the Brighton & Hove Workers Education Association (WEA). The Ascentis qualification is the benchmark qualification in Community Interpreting, and will allow our interpreters to... Read More
Volunteering Week “Thank you”SIS is very proud of the contribution volunteers make to our organisation and would like to offer them a very big THANK YOU for all their hardwork. SIS now works with 32 formal volunteers in the Health Promotion Project, plus a further 12 volunteer linguists over the 3 years of... Read More
Brighton Pride paradeWe recently submitted an application to join the this year’s Brighton & Hove Community Pride Parade and I am pleased to announce it has been accepted! The Parade takes place on Saturday 4th August 2018 setting off from Hove Lawns, making its way through Brighton to Preston Park. Click here... Read More
Advocacy VoicesLast Wednesday service users speaking Farsi, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic meet with Commissioners to discuss their advocacy needs. The conversation was part of planning for advocacy services from April 2019. Following the Advocacy Needs Assessment Commissioners were keen to better understand the advocacy needs of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)... Read More
Punks In The Community!We see ourselves as Punks in the Community because we swim against many mainstream ideas that forget migrants are people. We help, whether people are part of an established community, an isolated individual or a member of a newly arrived group with little knowledge of UK systems and few resources.... Read More
VIVA SIS!“Being an interpreter is much more than being bilingual; you have to understand people`s emotions too”. Short piece on SIS in the fab Viva Magazine / Charity Box #24 page 21. Pick up your copy around town or read it online http://ow.ly/iDBs50h3kVg There is also an interesting feature on British Sign... Read More
A Way A DayThere was a fabulous turn out and atmosphere for A Way A Day – a multicultural health and well-being event – we were happy to support many of our service users to participate with Community Interpreters attending speaking Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Russian, Portuguese and Turkish.Read More
Customer Service Excellence Award 2018SIS was one of the first charities to apply for the Customer Service Excellence (CSE) Award. We use the criteria to keep a focus on improvement and innovation. We have done this every year since 2009. This year we have achieved an unprecedented Compliance + in 4 areas: We use... Read More
SIS achieves Investing in Volunteers standardSIS have recently achieved the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard, recognising the excellent work we do with volunteers. Arran Evans, SIS Director said “We are delighted to have achieved this important award and will use it to continue to improve our support for Volunteer Linguists and others.” Investing in Volunteers... Read More
Launch of Brighton & Hove International Migrant Needs AssessmentBrighton & Hove International Migrant Needs Assessment (IMNA) launched last night at Brighton Museum. We are pleased to be involved and attended with our Community Researchers. The language barrier and need for interpreting was central to the IMNA. We remain particularly concerned at barriers to accessing BHCC Housing Services for... Read More
Help to quit smoking campaignSIS is working with Brighton and Hove City Council Public Health Department on their “Help to quit smoking” campaign. Our website contains translated “Go Smokefree” leaflets on our language pages along with information supplied by BHCC about what local help is available. Translated Go Smokefree booklets العربية (Arabic) বাংলা (Bengali)... Read More
SIS Ascentis Community Interpreting Level 3 cohort 2018Congratulations to all SIS interpreters who have started the Ascentis Level 3 Community Interpreting course, delivered in partnership with the WEA.Read More
SIS Winter PartyA good number of SIS linguists and staff members attended our Winter Party last week. Many thanks to all attendees, and everyone who brought delicious food!Read More
SIS presentation at Stanford Medical CentreDavid Slade, Learning & Development Officer, delivered a presentation introducing SIS’s services, Community Interpreting and how SIS can support GP surgeries at the Stanford Medical Centre. If you surgery is interested in organising event like this, please contact David by clicking here.Read More
SIS Annual Review 2016/17The latest SIS Annual Review is now available online. The review provides a summary of the organisation’s activity over a 12+ months time period as well as other information about SIS. We hope you enjoy reading about our services and welcome any feedback you would like to give. DOWNLOAD ANNUAL... Read More
Annual General Meeting 2017Come to our Annual General Meeting! 23rd November 2017 2pm – 4:30pm Talk to SIS and local health & wellbeing services Connect with local people speaking 48 languages Celebrate with SIS our achievements Brighthelm Community Centre, North Road, Brighton BN1 1YD Crèche (booking essential) and light refreshments available.Read More
Substance Misuse information session with Pavilions11 SIS Community Interpreters attended a Drug & Alcohol Basic Awareness course delivered by Chris Smith and Ben Pickersgill from the Pavilions Drug and Alcohol Service hosted at the BMECP on the 03/10/2017. In this all day event the delegates covered topics such as “Why people use substances?”, the “Misuse... Read More
Service User Day 2017We organised a Service User Day on 25th September. It was an opportunity to meet people and get to know them better. We encouraged people to share their opinions of SIS. People also gave us information about the needs of their communities. There was a focus on how to overcome... Read More
Trustee Lucy Bryson – Community ChampionCongratulations to SIS Trustee Lucy Bryson who has been acknowledged as a `Community Hero` by the University of Sussex. Lucy has been a SIS Trustee since September 2012. We benefit from her community connections and long standing support for refugees and asylum seekers in Brighton & Hove. You can read... Read More
International Migrants Needs AssessmentBrighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) are conducting a needs assessment of international migrants. SIS is the largest provider of services to migrants in the city. We are part of the Steering Group. We have already provided 50 pages of comparative data and helped with a Literature Review. 10 of... Read More
Customer Service Excellence – Lucky 7!For the 7th year we have again secured the prestigious Customer Service Excellence (CSE) Quality Mark. For the first time we secured Compliance Plus in 3 areas: We use customer insight to inform policy and strategy and to prioritise service improvement activity. We empower and encourage all employees to actively... Read More
Reflections of a community researcher.I am participating in a Needs Assessment for International Migrants in the city of Brighton and Hove as a community researcher. This is a very exciting project being carried out by partnership formed by the council, the NHS, the University of Brighton and other organisations, like SIS, which means that... Read More