What we do
Our interpreters are National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCPD) registered and can help with a range of services (including but not limited to):
- Access to Work
- Community events
- Education – university, college and school
- Job interviews
- Legal work – meetings with a solicitor
- Medical appointments
- Meetings/conferences
- Religious services
- Social care – home visits/liasons
- Training courses
These services can be accessed in person or remotely via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp or FaceTime.
Book with us
You can contact our friendly team to ask questions about our interpreting services and discuss your needs.
Email interpreting@bid.org.uk
Telephone 0121 450 7765
Mobile/Text/WhatsApp 07984 683182
Video call interpreting@bid.org.uk
Skype interpreting.bid
Our office hours are 8am – 5pm on Monday to Friday.
We are closed during bank holidays.
Forms of communication we use
British Sign Language (BSL) – the most common form of sign language in the UK and Deaf community.
Sign Support English (SSE) – borrows signs from BSL and follows English grammatical structure, often used within education settings.
Lipspeaking – a person who has been trained to be easy to lip read. They’ll speak silently and repeat the spoken message together with facial expressions and gestures.
Deafblind* communication including:
- Deafblind manual alphabet – spelling out words onto the person’s hands, letter by letter
- Block – spelling out words by using block capitals onto the person’s palms
- Visual frame – signing within the person’s field of vision so they can see signs
- Hands on – placing their hands over the hands of the signer so they can feel which signs are being used
Manual note-takers – provide high quality written notes.
Deaf Relay – Intralingual interpreter – A Deaf professional who works specifically with Deaf people with specific or complex language needs in conjunction with a hearing BSL/English interpreter.
Deaf Translator – A Deaf professional who translates documents into BSL and/or provides in-vision English to BSL translations.
*Please note, this service cannot be offered remotely
Who do we supply?
We supply services to NHS Shared Business Services and NHS North of England Commercial Collaborative (NOE CPC) along with a number of local authorities, NHS Trusts and education providers. We are also a supplier to ESPO.
Why book with us?
By booking an interpreter through BID Services, you are directly helping our charity to deliver vital services to people across the UK who are D/deaf, hard of hearing, sight impaired, severely sight impaired and deafblind.
Between 2023-2024 alone, we provided 19,643 hours of interpreting to support Deaf/hard of hearing people, including patients in NHS hospitals!