Looking forward to our community BSL social group in Seasons Coffee House, Dunoon, tomorrow evening. Usual 7:30pm start time and OPEN TO ALL...come and learn some Sign Language and also some training videos are used to benefit the local community. All for FREE! Thanks

Iain'sx next integrated theatre interpreting is with Theatre Gu Leòr for the show "Ceilidh" on Friday 9th March at 8:30pm at Glasgow's Tron Theatre. It's a wonderful challenge as it's mostly in Gaelic (has subtitles so open to all) and he's to remember the details of the plot and character dialogue, using the phonetics and flow as reference points for interpreting into BSL. Oh, and it's the first time ever for Iain to be wearing a kilt!! Always wanted to wear one and waiting for the right occasion for it, and this is just perfect as it's based on languages/cultures. Please share and hope to see you there!

UPDATE 21st Feb - sorry it’s cancelled this evening. Apologies and until next week. Looking forward to our community BSL social group tomorrow evening at Seasons Coffee House - usual 7:30pm start. Open to all...so come and join us if you can! Thanks

Wonderful locals strike again!!

Go Wales!! Great stuff...

Always helping to keep the local beach and playing fields clean. Dogs get a good walk and we help our beautiful environment. Hope you are doing your bit? Make a simple promise - mine started with collecting 3 bits of rubbish on each beach visit... Locally Inspiring Innellan is going some great work!

BSL National Plan - HEALTH, MENTAL HEALTH and WELLBEING (from British Deaf Association Scotland). Progressive Scotland continues...! BSL clip and English transcript here - enjoy! BSL Version: https://vimeo.com/246418943/c77904e15b English Script: Helen – Hello, could you tell us you name? Ian – Yes, I am Ian Galloway. Helen – Hi Ian. As you know, the BSL national plan was launched back in October. Ian – Yes, I’m aware of that. I went along to the launch. It was very interesting. Helen – So, the plan was launched in BSL and in English. Have you had a chance to look at it yet? Ian – Yes, I have. I think it’s a very positive step forward, a real wake-up call for lots of people, Deaf and hearing. I think it’s brilliant. Helen – Very true. And it’s good to have it bilingually accessible for Deaf and hearing people too. Now, as you know, the plan covers 10 different long-term goals, one of which is health and I just wondered if you could talk to me little bit about that today? Ian – Sure, no problem. Helen – I know that in your work as Project Manager you’re involved in working with the community and you attend meetings with the NHS, is that right? Ian – Yes. Helen – Can you tell me a bit more about that? Ian – Yes, actually I’ve been going to meetings in North Lanarkshire every month sometimes more often if something comes up. We always have an interpreter in to translate what is being said. Discussions focus around problems and barriers that people have come up against at hospitals in the North. So, if people don’t understand written English signage for example, we discuss how signs can be changed to make more accessible, perhaps by using graphics. We spend a lot of time going through things like that and working on getting them just right, and then once the signage has been approved by our group it gets passed on to the governing body for approval and then it gets rolled out across all hospitals in the north and hopefully that improves accessibility for Deaf people in terms of navigating a hospital environment or finding which department they need to go to. Helen – Health has 11 action points underneath it. What you have said matches with action 39. I know some work has been done towards meeting this already, which is great. What can you tell us about the health information videos you’ve been involved with? Ian – Well, I’ve seen health-related videos before, but for this work we brought in an experienced presenter who had done similar work before in Glasgow. We filmed them translating NHS information on various health conditions and put those videos on Facebook. That’s really important for the Deaf community because it allows people view and review the information in BSL and to understand and share it with others, when they perhaps would not have been able to had it only been in English. We’ve found using Twitter and websites don’t work as well for Deaf people. They might suit hearing people, but it’s Facebook that’s proved really popular with Deaf people. Helen – And also I know you’ve had sessions here with interpreters. How easy was that? Ian – Well, if I don’t have an interpreter, communication can be difficult. Our administrator can sign, they are a CSW, and although they are not highly fluent we can manage ok because we are used to each other, but if we have meetings with the council, or local health authority or whoever, we always bring in an interpreter, because it’s really important that we know there’s someone of high quality who can do the job well. Helen – That’s very true. And what about the people you meet; have they had issues getting a professional interpreter for their appointments with Deaf people? Ian – Sometimes it requires several interpreters to facilitate the meetings depending on the size of the group and whether they will split into break out groups or not. It is also important that we provide note takers to ensure everyone has full access to the information and can understand the sessions fully. Often we hear that BSL users attend their GP with no interpreter provided, they are forced to use pen and paper to communicate and often go home not fully understanding the medication they have been prescribed. They then have to ask family members to explain the medication and when they have to take it. During October and November we held NHS events that BSL users could attend. These meetings were very emotive with lots of people saying that their GP service was poor. They felt that they had not been given the proper explanation in relation to blood pressure, medication etc. and felt a lot of panic that they had been misinformed. The NHS staff who attended the meetings were very helpful and agreed to write to all the GP surgeries and enforce the message that a BSL interpreter must be provided for all appointments. Helen – Very true. Now, you know the BSL National Plan runs over the next 6 years, but that progress will be reviewed after 3. What do you hope to see achieved by that 3 year point? Ian – I’m really hoping that in 3 years’ time we see some good progress on getting that message out there. I know it’s not a problem that can be solved overnight, but if we can start to see an increasing awareness of Deaf people’s needs and more accessible health promotion sessions that would be great. The information can be shared within the community through word of mouth. It’s really important that we see progress within hospitals and with GPs, doctors and schools too, actually. They’re the most important areas – the rest can wait until later. Helen – Right, so you hope to see more qualified interpreters being booked, or more GPs that can sign. Ian – Yes. And more training for health service staff. Currently we see a lot of training here being delivered in schools and for councils, which has been identified through the staff realising that there is lack of communication with the Deaf people who use the services. The Deaf service users complain about the service they receive and the staff are nervous to deal with deaf people, this is why they need the training. It is important that we are able to feedback to one another in an open and transparent way. I hope in the future this type of training will continue. Helen – Thanks for talking to you. I hope others copy your example and roll out something similar in their own areas

Looking forward to the BSL community session tonight. We will be at Seasons Coffee House for 7:30pm until 9pm. Hope to see you there!

FREE training for interpreters!! Please do share... Dear BSL / English Interpreters Queen Margaret University (QMU) is offering a FREE online mini course for BSL / English Interpreters on the changes associated with the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. This is too good an opportunity to miss!! Enrolment is now open and the course opens in a couple of weeks on Monday 26 February 2018. For further information and how to register, please check out the link below: https://openeducation.blackboard.com/mooc-catalog/courseDetails/view?course_id=_1871_1 Should you have any questions, please contact Rachel Mapson / QMU Interpreting directly – email addresses RMapson@qmu.ac.uk or interpreting@qmu.ac.uk Please do share this email with your fellow BSL / English Interpreters. Very best wishes Derek Todd | BSL Consultant Scottish Council on Deafness - SCoD