Heather Shilton joined Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Services after being the Administrator for Nottinghamshire Deaf Society.

She felt it was a natural progression after seeing the difficulty experienced by the Deaf Community in their daily lives.

Heather studied her trade at UCLAN and has been working as a fully qualified Interpreter for a number of years.

Outside of work, Heather likes to relax at home and visit her friends.

Jo Gallagher joined Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service as a part time Interpreter from South Notts College in June 2006 having left her job as a Communication Support Worker for Deaf students (16+) on a variety of courses at the College.

Jo lists her qualifications as having a BS (Honours) in BSL/English at Wolverhampton University, and is currently on her second year at UCLAN in Preston studying her Post Graduate Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting.

Her biggest achievement to date is getting the Interpreting position here at NSLIS as she has always wanted to be a community Interpreter.

Jo lists her hobbies as playing the piano, Pilates, Socialising and going to the Cinema.

Jules Dickinson joined Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service on November 2002.

She has achieved her Post Graduate Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting in 2001 at UCLAN in Preston which she says is her biggest achievement to date, but we are sure there are lots more personal achievements than that given all the globetrotting Jules does in her quest for Sign Language!

Jules hobbies as running, doing Yoga, going to the Gym, going to Music gigs (Glastonbury is her favourite!) and the cinema as well as socialising!

Julie Robinson. has worked for Nottinghamshire Sign Language Service for 5 years.

She joined Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service in 2001 as the service co-ordinator. During this time she achieved her NVQ Level 3 and NVQ 4 Language Units in British Sign Language. In January 2005 She became a full time Sign Language Interpreter.

Julie attended a postgraduate course at SLI in Newark and became a fully qualified Sign Language Interpreter in 2007.

Julie is currently on maternity leave enjoying the joys of Motherhood.

Kath Heys Joined Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service in 2001. She previously worked as a Nursery Nurse and also got involved in supporting special needs children in mainstream schools, teaching them BSL and Makaton during lunchtimes and also taught a whole school of children, both Deaf and hearing, signed songs which they performed for Christmas and other performances.

Kath is a qualified Nursery Nurse, Communication Support Worker and has achieced BSL Levels 1, 2 and 3 and is currently working towards her Level 4.

Kath's biggest personal achievement to date has been doing volunteer work in Russia.

Kath lists her hobbies as travelling and enjoying visiting famous places and she is also actively involved in her local church.

Liz Murray Joined Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service in July 2001 after finishing at Bristol University where she achieved her BSC in Deaf Studies.

Liz is a member of the Register of Sign Language Interpreters.

Liz classes her personal achievements as working as an Interpreter, stating that it's the only job she really wanted to do except be an actress!

Adele joined Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service in September 2007, coming to us from West Notts College where she worked as a Co-Ordinator and CSW for Deaf learners. She played an active part in the Additional Learning Support Team who were sad to see her go, but their loss was our gain.

Adele's qualifications are outstanding and include BSL Stage 1, 2 and 3, Deaf Awareness, Deaf/Blind Awareness, BTEC CSW, CLAIT Level 1, Teacher Training 7307 parts 1 and 2, and is currently attending 2nd year at UCLAN studying her Post Graduate Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting

Adele says her greatest achievements to date are getting a job as a Junior Trainee Interpreter at NSLIS and finding her way round Nottinghamshire despite her lack of map reading skills!

Adele is a qualified Rescue Diver and First Aider and her other hobbies are - Reading, walking, watching films, socialising, going on holiday but the one she excels in is Talking!

Natasha Redfern, 'Tash' to all of us here, started work at Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service in September 2007 after combining being a part time stay at home mum with being a Freelance Interpreter after she decided she prefered to be part of a team rather than a lonesome figure in the scary world of Sign Language Interpreters.

Natasha achieved NVQ3 in Sign Language at UCLAN and is currently working towards her NVQ4. She also has Drama A' Level which she says helps with her facial expressions!

Her biggest personal achievement to date is being a working mum and keeping the family together, no mean feat that one!

Natasha lists her hobbies as spending time with her family, going out walking and just simply "going out"!

Hayley Beckett, the baby of the team, started working for Nottinghamshire Sign Language Interpreting Service in September 2007 having previously worked as a CSW in a mainstream secondary school in Leeds.

Hayley has lots of qualifications linked to her first ever job as a riding instructor. She also has BSL Level 1, 2 and NVQ3 and is currently working towards her Post Graduate Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting at UCLAN.

Hayley says her biggest achievement would have to be studying towards her Interpreting degree and working as an Interpreter as since she began learning BSL, she has always wanted to work as an interpreter and is very proud to have achieved that dream.

Hayley loves horse riding and has 2 horses of her own. She used to compete at a high level, but doesn't have so much time on her hands at the moment. She also loves her music and football, going to the cinema, meeting new people and learning about their background and culture.