19 May 2021
We hope you have been keeping safe this Spring as the Covid-19 restrictions ease up. There's been a lot going on at NRCPD since the last newsletter in December, and we have some updates for you.
Last month, we launched our 2021-23 strategy which was an exciting step forward for NRCPD. If you missed our strategy launch, you can view our strategy and the BSL translation of this here: https://www.nrcpd.org.uk/NRCPD-updates.php?article=238
We also expanded our Registered Sign Language Interpreter (RSLI) and Trainee Sign Language Interpreter (TSLI) categories to include the new specialism 'Relay-Intralingual'. We are thrilled that we were able to do this and to welcome more professionals to the registers. For further information and for the approved routes to registration, please see: https://www.nrcpd.org.uk/NRCPD-updates.php?article=234
The portal was recently updated so that all registrants and regulated trainees have the option to have the photograph for their ID badges made public on the NRCPD website. For further information, please see: https://www.nrcpd.org.uk/NRCPD-updates.php?article=239
Whilst we are on the subject of the website, we have also recently published a guide to using the NRCPD website and you can find this document here: https://www.nrcpd.org.uk/Guide-to-the-NRCPD-Registers
Due to the successful implementation of new registration processes, for all applications received from Friday May 21st 2021, replacement badge fees will be reduced to £10 (from £25) and admin fees will be reduced to £15 (from £30). Admin fees only apply for first time applications and for those returning to the NRCPD registers after a year or more. They do not apply for late renewals between 3 and 12 months. If and when you are waiting for a new ID badge after renewing and have no ID badge, agencies and employers can check your NRCPD registration on the NRCPD website to verify that you are registered.
The registration support measures that we introduced last year (60 day payment terms, 6 month renewal option and special arrangements for those struggling financially) will continue for the time being.
Our new CPD policy went live in November 2020 and if you have not renewed under the new policy yet and don't want to wait to take advantage of the additional flexibility it offers, you may 'opt-in' voluntarily. Please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to do this. The old policy will apply to you until you renew or you opt-in, whichever is sooner.
On other matters, we appointed our new Trustees Richard MacQueen and Dawn Marshall back in February and they have settled in well. We also took part in ASLI's SLTI census meeting, a webinar with VLP, Deaf Awareness Week 2021 and had an event with SignHealth discussing the importance of working with registered interpreters, CODAs being asked to interpret in health settings, the universal inclusion of Deaf people and the Accessible Information Standard, plus much more. You can watch this event on our Facebook page, or on our website here: https://www.nrcpd.org.uk/NRCPD-updates.php?article=240 We have more initiatives like this planned for the year. We also wrote to UK Clinical Commissioning Groups back in January to include NRCPD registered language service professionals as part of the integrated clinical frontline for priority Covid-19 vaccinations.
If you have any questions about the above, please get in touch with us at: enquiries@nrcpd.org.uk.
With many thanks,
NRCPD.
RSLIs Ryan McLean and Victoria Midgley are running a session under VLP's CPD programme. The session "New terp on the block - a discussion for early career professionals", will be taking place remotely on the 9th March 2022.
In preparation for this session, Ryan and Victoria are carrying out some research to collate data which will support their session. They want to delve further into the early stages of the interpreting profession.
They have produced a survey which is aimed specifically at student and trainee interpreters. You can find a link for this below, which outlines their intentions for this survey and what they want to find out.
They will then use this data to produce a second survey later in the year aimed at qualified and experienced interpreters. If you do have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact Ryan and Victoria at: rpminterpreting@gmail.com and vcminterpreting@outlook.com
Professor Jemina Napier has developed a survey as part of the Justisigns 2 project, which focusses on identifying access needs for female victims of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV) and to developing best practices for service/support service providers and interpreters to work together. It aims to identify the training needs for interpreters that may arise when working in the context of DSGBV with victims that do not speak English or that are deaf BSL users.
For a link to the survey, please see: https://form.jotform.com/210691954233355
For information about the survey in BSL, please see: https://youtu.be/lPn1-fnJni4
The survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Deadline for completion: 31st May 2021
If you have any questions about this study, you can contact Jemina via email at: J.Napier@hw.ac.uk.
If you would prefer to answer these questions in BSL, please contact Jemina to arrange a 1:1 appointment to go through the questions.
When you renew or upgrade your registration, your invoice will be sent to you via email immediately. The invoice will also appear within your portal account and you can pay directly from there by credit or debit card. We would be grateful if you would avoid using American Express or other non-UK/EU bank cards because these incur a charge more than twice that of UK cards. We also accept payment by BACS (bank transfer) which some of you prefer and it is better for us too as there are no transaction charges. Our bank details for BACS payments are listed on your invoices too. This is available within most online or app-based banking services. Whichever method you choose to pay your registration fees, please remember to include your invoice number as part of the payment reference.
If you miss the payment terms for your registration, we will email you 60 and 90 day letters as a reminder. These letters come from YourValued and are legitimate emails about your renewals. These emails from YourValued may sometimes end up in your junk folders, so please check your junk folders too.
On the NRCPD Registers as of the end of April 2021, we have:
Registered Sign Language Interpreters: 1294
Regulated Trainee Sign Language Interpreters: 240
Registered Sign Language Translators: 26
Regulated Trainee Sign Language Translators: 4
Lipspeakers: 53
Speech to Text Reporters: 30
Electronic Notetakers: 8
Manual Notetakers: 3
Interpreters for Deafblind People: 13
