Charlotte Gascoyne, Head of Sustainability and ESG at language service provider Dals, says the unique skills of its interpreters can be more valuable to charities than donations.
Like many socially conscious companies, we provide financial support to a number of voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs), giving donations and carrying out fundraising throughout the year.
However, some time ago, we recognised that one of the most meaningful ways we could support VCSEs was by giving them free access to our most valuable assets: our pool of more than 10,000 qualified interpreters.
As a leading supplier to public sector bodies such as the NHS, police forces, local authorities and other government organisations, we have qualified interpreters covering more than 500 languages on our books.
These interpreters can be more beneficial to a charity such as the Merseyside Refugee Support Network, one of our chosen partners, than a financial donation. Given the team is small, its aim to help refugees in crisis and those attempting to integrate into UK life is often hindered by language barriers. When they face such hurdles, we’re able to quickly connect them to the right interpreters via telephone.
Similarly, the Furness Multicultural Forum frequently requires language skills to assist in its work promoting diversity and fighting racism in the local area. Last year, we provided 420 free interpreter minutes to the organisation, which it described as a “godsend”.
Widespread need
But it isn’t just the obvious charities that need language support. According to the 2021 census, 8.9% of people living in England and Wales speak a language other than English or Welsh as their main language, up from 7.7% in 2011. That’s more than 5 million people, and the census also revealed that while most of these could speak English, at least one million could not speak it well or even at all.
Many of these people access a wide range of services from all sorts of charities, not just those working specifically with refugees or focused on racial diversity. Indeed, the biggest user of the 7,000 free interpreter minutes we gave away last year was a charity called Sufra, which works to prevent hunger and poverty in North-West London.
The second-biggest user was Micro Rainbow, a charity that aims to prevent discrimination against the LGBTQI community, as well as ensuring those within it are afforded equal opportunities in life.
Sufra and Micro Rainbow each received more than 2,000 free interpreter minutes last year, allowing them to help hundreds of people who otherwise may have been unable to obtain assistance from these charities simply because they couldn’t make themselves understood.
Moving beyond solving immediate needs, we also work to help charities improve their in-house language capabilities. For example, we conduct language assessments of the volunteer interpreters used by the British Red Cross (BRC) at no charge. This ensures their volunteers can deliver high-quality interpretation services for vulnerable refugees, migrants and asylum seekers. Last year, 11 volunteers were onboarded by the BRC thanks to assessments conducted by Dals.
While it’s laudable that so many private businesses have today woven financial support for charities into their ethos, it’s worth considering whether they have other resources that may be even more valuable.
