You have been an absolute life saver, thank you so much. (March 2024)
Claire Crockford, Refuge Support worker, Safe in Sussex

 

Free interpreting sessions are so valuable for charities such as The Carers Centre Brighton and Hove and the support we can give our unpaid carers. Charity sectors have such limited funding and in order to be inclusive we as an organisation do everything, we can support all our unpaid carers, but financial constraints are very real and do impact negatively across all sectors and people. The amazing offer SIS have for free interpreting sessions is so helpful and needed because it removes potential barriers for the work and support, we give unpaid carers. This then is further reflected in the local community and mental wellbeing of people and communities as people feel heard and supported. SIS have always been so helpful and positive with all the contact and support I have had with them and as an organisation we are very grateful at how good they are at providing interpreting, advocacy and translation. (Feb 2024)
Rosie Pryer-Vaz, The Carer’s Centre

 

The project I work on is limited on funding but we regularly work with clients with English as a second language, often completing complex benefits forms or delivering crucial debt advice. For these cases working with an interpreter is invaluable. Furthermore, our work with clients is short term but this can still include three or four face to face appointments so it is really helpful to have any help at all with the costs of interpreters to ensure we can keep offering a fair and equal service to all our clients whatever their needs. (Feb 2024)
Roxy Brennan, Money Advice Plus

 

Thank you so much for this, the provision of an interpreter for us enabled us to risk assess a domestic abuse client and support her with safety planning and other key services including access housing and benefit support.

As a grass roots domestic abuse charity, on a very small budget, a face to face interpreting service meant that we could make the client feel safe and heard as well as know that she had a full understanding of what we were asking her which in turn enabled us to effectively risk assess her and also plan her safety accordingly.

It was extremely important with building the client’s trust with us that we would be able to support her moving forward.

We are extremely grateful for this offer and the impact has been truly life changing for our client and her family. (Feb 2024)
Jo North, My Sister’s House

 

I would like to give some feedback regarding my recent work with one of your interpreters. He has been so helpful, putting my client at ease and explaining cultural aspects to aid in my understanding too. If there was ever a need to speak to my client outside of what I had said Q would either check to make sure that was okay first or explain what he did afterwards and why. I felt confident that my message was being translated accurately and he had a genuine empathy for the client. This created a wonderful, trusting environment for all of us and we all felt supported. Q has been integral to the role I played in helping my client and he is a fantastic interpreter and person: I could not have done it without him! Please can you ensure that this feedback is sent to Q too, as positive feedback is always so gratefully received. I hope to work with him again soon. (Jan 2024)
Sarah Noakes, Health In Mind, SPFT

 

I am a bit late sending this email, but I wanted to mention how impressed I was by your interpreter, W, who supported myself and my client . As well as her language and interpreting skills, W’s sensitivity, empathy, diplomacy, and particularly her knowledge of Arabic culture and Iraqi history, was invaluable.

This social work intervention was still very difficult and challenging, for myself, the client, and her son, but it would have been a lot more difficult without W’s support. (Jan 2024)
Natalie Jahans, Social Worker, BHCC

 

Thank you so much for your efforts and responding to my email. I’m glad you can help Lili and a Volunteer Linguist could relay that information to them. Really fantastic that we have your services. (Nov 2023)
Jennifer Theelke, Discretionary Help and Advice Team, BHCC

 

I just wanted to feedback the positive experience I had working with E. She was professional, empathetic and made both myself and the client feel incredibly comfortable.

Having a good connection and warm relationship so important in therapeutic translation, and I felt E could really be part of that relationship while maintaining the professional boundaries of an interpreter.

I very much look forward to working with her again in the future. (Nov 2023)
Health in Mind, SPFT

 

The client was at risk of becoming homeless and the interpreting helped with getting a better understanding of his situation and offering options to him for temporary accommodation, which is he now in. (Nov 2023)
Roz Doe, Hummingbird Project

 

In order to help people properly we need accurate information from them to complete their benefit forms and get them what they are entitled to. Without interpreters to help us, it means we can’t be as effective. (Nov 2023)
Lorraine Guy, Hastings Advice and Representation Centre

 

Your service was great, very easy to use and access. My client did speak some English but using your services ensured that we got all the details of her appointment correct and she could speak in her first language avoiding any miscommunication, confusion or frustration. (Oct 2023)
Pheobe Relf, Hastings Advice and Representation Centre

 

I’ve been supported by Arabic interpreter – Ri a few times in the past and she is extremely professional and calm and helpful. This week (31st Aug) she agreed to come into theatre and sit with a patient having surgery under local anaesthetic and it had such a positive effect on the patients care. Just wanted you to know what a great job she does. (Sept 2023)
Edwards Hughes – Consultant, RSCH

 

I have been really grateful for the work that SIS has put in to being able to support me to work consistently with a client. One of the factors that supported this was SIS hearing my request to secure the same interpreter for a series of sessions. The interpreter was well aware of the therapeutic approach and has offered a noticeably stable and trusted support for our client and her son in our sessions. It meant that I could offer the work with confidence each week and felt I saw the benefits for our clients too. (Sept 2023)
Jess Linton, RISE

 

Interpreter T was very respectable and when we entered the home, she was clear to inform both myself and my client the confidentiality statement. She was very supportive in helping me understand my client further and helping interpret when I was unsure and prompting for further information supportively.

It was a challenging session and I appreciate that this provided additional pressures to T. She managed this professional and was able to navigate it in a manner to help me understand the situation as well. She was fantastic and I am very grateful for her interpreting service. (Sept 2023)
Valeria Yuen, Assessment and Treatment Service, SPFT

 

This was a last minute arrangement that SIS were able to pick up and respond to quickly. The client had a partner who had translated for her at the initial meeting, however it is really important that we are able to use independent interpreting services to communicate directly with clients to allow them to speak freely and honestly with our service and be able to share personal information without concern. In this situation the client was extremely stressed about her homelessness and her mental health was impacted. Being able express herself and feeling understood as well as understanding what was being discussed helped remove the stress of communicating from this session. She said that the language barrier had meant she had struggled with other services leading her to shut down and disengage, so for this client having independent interpreting services was vital to her getting support that she urgently needed.

From our perspective it is important to be able to have conversations using independent interpreting services so that we are confident that our questions and information we are giving is being relayed appropriately using the correct language, and responses are not being filtered by a friend or family member. Interpreting allows us to provide a more equal service to those people for whom English is not their first language. It also helps with the flow of the conversation, for example instead of using translation apps which can be clunky and misleading. It is also helpful to have interpreting when working with clients with low literacy levels.

The remit of our service is to support vulnerable adults with a history or current homelessness. People we work with have multiple areas of disadvantage and complex trauma. We will ask about sensitive areas of their lives including housing, finances, health, and relationships. We support people to navigate complicated systems, such as housing and benefits, so it is important that the people we work with properly understand how we are able to support them and the systems they are working within, and understanding their rights and responsibilities for example understanding tenancy agreements.

As a service we have noted an increase in people referred to our service where English is not their first language. This includes people who have come straight from Home Office accommodation having been granted asylum. Therefore it is really important that we are able to effectively communicate what options and support is available to them, what is expected of them, and how systems work where they may have had no understanding of this previously.

Many people we work with who have a language need don’t have someone in their lives (e.g. friend or family) who they can ask to help with interpreting, so for this cohort interpreting services are vital. As described above, it is also essential for us to have independent interpreting for people we work with even when they do have someone who can interpret for them to ensure that the communication is open and transparent, especially where there may be concerns around coercion or control. (Aug 2023)
Ellie Kinnell, Resettlement Service, Southdown

 

It was amazing having the interpreters at the Sanctuary session. I felt that, for the first time, I was able to properly to communicate with some people that I’d been seeing for many weeks! It was quite a fraught environment and really busy and chaotic but the interpreters were so calm and helped to manage the situation well. They helped to create a very supportive environment. (Aug 2023)
Father Lee Chantler, All Saints Church of Sanctuary

 

The help SIS has given to our group has had a great impact on the refugee family we are currently supporting. It has enabled us to have detailed discussions with the family about how they are settling into their new lives here. Recently we have been helping the family to plan their futures.

The interpreters have ensured that important messages regarding the family’s transition to independence have been understood. Sometimes issues have been sensitive but the interpreters have always ensured that our family is at ease so that they speak freely.

The financial help we have received has meant we can organise sessions which go beyond practical appointments with doctors, schools etc and have led to greater understanding of the needs and challenges being addressed by the family. This certainly means that they will settle more quickly and have a greater chance of fulfilling lives in this country. (July 2023)
Sally Miller, South Down Refugee Project

 

The interpreter provided was excellent, was able to relay all of the information and replies between myself and my client and also I was able to share my screen with the interpreter as we had translated a document and wanted to ensure that the Client understood the questions within this, as we understood that some words did not translate well from English to Polish.

The whole experience over Teams was excellent, we were able to cover all that we needed in that session on time. The interpreter was very professional and I would have no hesitation in instructing again. (July 2023)
Jane Lyle, My Sister’s House

 

You provided us with a last minute interpreter this morning. Our consultant asked me to email to say that she was fantastic and that she hopes that she is ok as it is a particularly difficult conversation.

Thanks again for providing an interpreter at short notice, you have fit us in at the last minute a few times recently (sorry!) and it has been really appreciated. (July 2023)
Integrated Procedures Unit, RSCH

 

Thank you so much for circulating information about our the event among your contacts. We had 11 attendees that day; 6 of them came through SIS. We had help from two interpreters.

All of the attendees said the interpreters were good – very good. They found the advisors, organisers and interpreters friendly and approachable. 100% of them said they find it important to have in-person support.

Many thanks again to you and your amazing interpreters. (May 2023)
Siriwimon Areelertworakul, Network for International Women

 

We were pleased to have an interpreter because the language and legal details around SEN support in school is relatively complex and we wanted to make sure that the client properly understood the system and their rights under it. I was able to check that all the school and other services were already doing their part and check that the client understood all the different acronyms and agencies/services involved. I was able to provide some reassurance and clarity which I do think would have been very difficult without an interpreter.

However, an additional benefit of having an interpreter there was that the client was able to express freely in her own language how difficult she was finding the situation and we were then able to set her up with on-going support from another team hereat Amaze.

Having had an initial call with an interpreter she was confident enough to join one of our projects without needing on-going interpreting support. I do not think she would have accessed that project without the initial interpreting support. I also think she will feel more able to call us directly again. (May 2023)
Siobhán Aggarwal, AMAZE

 

When we raised a concern about interpreting barriers for refugees and asylum seekers in Eastbourne, you offered to send us cards and information straight away to share with local organisations that very much need it. We saw this as having a real positive impact on our work with refugees and asylum seekers in the county and wanted to highlight this. (May 2023)
Healthwatch East Sussex

 

The appointment was to support a home visit to the carer by an occupational therapist under our pilot Safer Handling Project to enable carers to have tailored advice regarding supporting their cared-for person safely and in a way that protects their own wellbeing.

As you might imagine, this would have been impossible to carry out without interpreting support and demonstrates what an important service you provide. (April 2023)
Sally Miller, The Carer’s Centre