Community and public service interpreting
Interpreting for the everyday appointments that shape people's lives: health, housing, education, social care and council services. Accurate, impartial and delivered with care.
Community interpreting, also called public service interpreting, helps people who speak little or no English, or the local language, to use the services they are entitled to. The conversations are often personal and can carry real consequences for the individual: a safeguarding meeting, a tenancy dispute, a child's school progress, a new diagnosis.
Our community interpreters are experienced in these settings. They interpret accurately and neutrally, without advising or advocating for either side, so that professionals can do their jobs properly and service users can speak for themselves. They are also aware of the cultural factors that may affect how people describe symptoms, family circumstances or problems with officialdom.
We provide community interpreters face to face, by video and by telephone, so services can choose the format that best suits the person and the appointment.
Why choose SILA Linguists for community
Impartial and accurate
Interpreters render everything that is said, in the first person, and stay neutral, so that the relationship remains between the professional and the service user.
Experienced in sensitive settings
Our interpreters understand safeguarding, mental health, bereavement and other difficult conversations, and how to work within them.
Dialect and gender matching
We take account of dialect, region and gender preferences, which can make a real difference to trust and understanding.
Three formats
Face-to-face for home visits and complex meetings, video for quick access, and telephone for short or urgent conversations.
Confidential by default
Personal information is protected under GDPR and interpreters are bound by confidentiality.
Cultural awareness
Where cultural context needs explaining, interpreters can flag it openly to both parties rather than taking sides.
Community interpreting from SILA Linguists® for public services, health and education
Community interpreting is the language support people meet in everyday life: the GP surgery, the housing office, the school gate, the social worker's visit. SILA Linguists® provides community interpreters to councils and public bodies, NHS and healthcare providers, schools, colleges and universities, charities and NGOs and organisations supporting refugees and new arrivals in immigration. Typical assignments include safeguarding and child protection meetings, social care assessments, tenancy interviews, SEND reviews, health visits and resettlement appointments.
Our community interpreters are impartial, trained for sensitive conversations and briefed on the context before they arrive. Where it matters, you can request a female or male interpreter, and we match dialect as well as language, for example Syrian or Sudanese Arabic, Kurdish Kurmanji, Pashto, Tigrinya, Somali or Bengali. Interpreters attend face to face, join by video or connect by telephone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and Deaf residents are supported by BSL interpreters. Before a difficult meeting, the professional leading it can brief the interpreter on what to expect, and afterwards we welcome feedback that helps us match the same linguist for follow-up appointments.
SILA Linguists® also translates what community services need to hand over: letters, care plans, consent forms and public information, with certified translation for birth certificates, school records and other official papers. Recorded interviews can be transcribed and translated by our transcription team, and asylum and age assessment work can draw on language analysis. Our vetted, trained and qualified linguists are available to public service teams in the UK, North America, Australia, New Zealand and beyond, under confidentiality agreements and UK GDPR, in more than 350 languages and dialects.
Step by step
Book the appointment
Tell us the language and dialect, the date, the type of appointment and any preference for the interpreter's gender.
Interpreter confirmed
We assign a vetted interpreter with experience of that setting and confirm the booking.
Pre-session briefing
A few minutes before the appointment, the professional can brief the interpreter on the purpose and any sensitivities.
Continuity
For ongoing cases we try to book the same interpreter for follow-up appointments, which helps build trust.
Frequently asked questions
Why should I not use a family member to interpret?
Family members, and especially children, may not know the terminology, may filter what is said and can be put under pressure. A professional interpreter is impartial, accurate and bound by confidentiality.
Can I request the same interpreter for a series of appointments?
Yes. Tell us when you book the first appointment and we will keep the same interpreter for the series wherever their diary allows.
Do you cover less common languages and dialects?
Yes. Our network covers more than 350 languages and dialects. Telling us the person's region or dialect helps us match the right interpreter.
Can community interpreting be done remotely?
Yes. Video and telephone interpreting work well for many appointments. For home visits, distressing news or people with limited access to technology, face-to-face interpreting is usually better.
Tell us the language, the format and the date
Our bookings team will confirm the details with you and arrange the right linguist. Have the language (and dialect, if you know it), the type of assignment and the date ready.