Volunteer Interpreter

The Volunteer Interpreter role is to bridge language gaps, enabling effective communication or other languages between non-English speaking individuals and the organisation’s staff and volunteers. This role is essential in ensuring inclusivity, equity, and accessibility for all members of the community, regardless of their language proficiency. A volunteer interpreter role plays a critical part in making the services more accessible and effective for non-English speaking individuals. Their work not only facilitates immediate communication but also promotes long-term engagement and trust within the local community. You could be helping members of your community who do not speak English to communicate with others in their neighbourhood. You could be helping non-English speakers deal with essential situations where they need to speak to official people, such as doctors or solicitors. You could help a non-English speaker learn how to speak English by encouraging them to take classes and helping them with basic phrases.

What skills do I need?

• Knowledge of at least one of the following languages in addition to English: Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Mandarin, Pashtu, Punjabi, Turkish, Urdu, Bengali and Welsh
• Good communication skills.
• Experience of working with ethnic minority communities would be an advantage.
• Good people skills.
• Good problem-solving skills.