The Linguist

8 The Linguist Vol/62 No/2 thelinguist.uberflip.com FEATURES concepts (underpinned by a commitment to a promise) that would otherwise have to be learnt include what it means to grow up within a patrol system; understanding a girl's progression through the branches of a Member Organisation; the experience of celebrating World Thinking Day every year and understanding its value and history; and recognising WAGGGS' leadership mindsets. Members are also often more willing to be flexible about how they use their time, without it having to be pre-planned and written into a contract. Thus, we began to explore the use of volunteers in the provision of translation and interpreting services, which had the added benefit of creating targeted volunteering opportunities for members with language skills. A specialist team At the beginning of 2021, we launched a new team to promote and professionalise our language offer. The Language Services Team (LST) is coordinated by three volunteers: myself in the UK, Marianna Rapsomatioti from Greece and Pi Lemus from Mexico. All three of us are long-term members of the Girl Guide/Girl Scout Movement and professionals in the field of translation and interpreting. In my case, I have been working as a freelance language professional for 20 years, providing and coordinating a range of language services to various private companies, NGOs and United Nations agencies. Our role, as co-leads of the LST, includes everything from the recruitment and retention of volunteers and the promotion of multilingualism among WAGGGS staff to the management of translation and interpreting requests and the provision of training opportunities for our team members. We have restructured the process for recruiting and training volunteers to ensure the services are as professional as they can be, even though we offer them free of charge. We also offer opportunities to students and recent graduates of interpreting and translation to get real-world experience, something that was of immense value to me when I was younger. Our team members are primarily, though not exclusively, active members of Girlguiding/Girl Scouting. They provide translation, proofreading and interpreting services – online and in person – to WAGGGS at the global and regional levels. The scope of our work is extremely varied so let me give some examples: • The WAGGGS annual activity pack centred around the International Day of the Girl is typically produced in English and then proofread and translated by LST volunteers into the other three official languages. • Last year, LST volunteers translated an advocacy toolkit for Red Pride Week, helping members to advocate for better menstrual hygiene worldwide. • Regional Committees are formed on a triennial basis to guide the work of WAGGGS in its five regions. The provision of voluntary language services has enabled non-English speakers to serve on these committees, in some cases for the first time, as we can now assign LST interpreters free of charge to work in these confidential spaces. • Regional Conferences take place every three years to elect these committees, vote on motions relating to finance, programme and vision, and provide opportunities to share best practice and learn from one another. In 2022, LST volunteers interpreted for the conferences in Europe and the Western Hemisphere, and translated texts such as biographies of candidates, triennial updates and vision strategy documents. • Also in 2022, WAGGGS hosted its flagship leadership development event, the Juliette Low Seminar. More than 400 participants from 87 countries attended the 10-day virtual event, facilitated by 83 volunteers. The LST translated all the documents in the pre-event period: communications and information documents, application forms and presentation contents. We also recruited a team of six volunteer interpreters who DEDICATION Jo coordinating at the WAGGGS World Conference in Split, Croatia © JO TILLOTSON © WAGGGS © PEXELS

• Cover