The Wales Interpretation and Translation Service (WITS; cy, Gwasanaeth Cyfieithu a Dehongli Cymru; GCDC) is a not-for-profit

quango A quango or QUANGO (less often QuANGO or QANGO) is an organisation to which a government has devolved power, but which is still partly controlled and/or financed by government bodies. The term was originally a shortening of "quasi-NGO", where N ...

providing 24-hour linguistic services to public authorities in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, including councils, police forces, health and social services, but not courts. The services offered include interpreting,

translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

and

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

, and cover approximately 135 languages & dialects including

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK), and is the first or preferred language among the Deaf community in the UK. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on ...

. The linguists are security vetted to national police employment standards and assessed and trained in professional interpreting. It has a place on the steering committee of

Professional Interpreters for Justice A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

(PI4J), an umbrella group formed in 2011 to campaign against the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

language services framework agreement.

History

WITS was created in November 2009 and formally established on 13 October 2010, with initial funding from the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

City of Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

and

Gwent Police Gwent Police ( cy, Heddlu Gwent) is a territorial police force in Wales, responsible for policing the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen. The force was formed in 1967 by the amalgamation o ...

. The aims were to help people experiencing communication difficulties to overcome language barriers when accessing public services, and thereby to encourage social inclusion and integration, and improve community cohesion. In January 2017 it was agreed to transfer hosting responsibilities from Gwent Police to Cardiff Council.

References

External links

WITS website

WITS website
(archive copy)

History

See also

References

External links

Further reading