You’re hired - Yvonne is top apprentice

Jun 18 2009 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON woman Yvonne Waddell is one of Scotland's first apprentices in British Sign Language Interpreting.

The 24-year-old began her training with nine other apprentices at the launch of the SASLI (Scottish Association of Sign Language Interpreters) project in Glasgow this month.

This pilot scheme is part of the £1.5million Building Bridges project funded by the Scottish Government and is a unique opportunity for deaf and hearing people to train as BSL/English Interpreters.

Yvonne, who speaks Russian and German, will qualify as a BSL/English Interpreter in December 2010.

The apprenticeships have been welcomed by the deaf community, as there is a shortage of qualified BSL/English Interpreters throughout the UK as a whole, but in Scotland in particular.

Yvonne's training will be a blend of recognised qualifications and work experience which will be delivered in conjunction with the world-renowned languages department at Leeds University.

She will be working with qualified BSL Interpreters in Scotland and will study Advanced BSL with two of the country’s most experienced BSL tutors Avril Hepner and Tessa Padden-Duncan from the British Deaf Association (BDA).

"I didn't have any experience of the deaf community but I am really passionate about languages. I speak German and did my degree in Russian. I decided to do an evening class in BSL and I just loved it!" she said.

Yvonne, who lives in Hamilton with her fiancé, local businessman Robert O'Donnell, went on to do her level 2 and 3 BSL qualifications. "When I saw the advertisement for the apprenticeships it seemed the natural next step," she explained.

The former sales representative and trainer is now shadowing other interpreters as they interpret at everything from conferences to community events, medical appointments to one-to-one meetings.

"We began working earlier this month and so far it has been fantastic. It has exceeded my expectations," said Yvonne, who was a volunteer for the Samaritans organisation.

She added: "I hope the apprenticeship project will raise awareness of BSL and that people begin to realise that it is not just about signs, it is a language all its own, with its own culture."