About INTRAN

INTRAN is a multi-agency partnership that exists to help its members overcome language barriers, and to champion equitable access to public information and services.

Our History

INTRAN began in 2000 with a handful of Norfolk-based public sector organisations who wanted to make a change and combat local accessibility challenges. They were concerned that people who were Deaf, or who did not speak English fluently, often did not have access to public services – except in serious or emergency situations.

INTRAN has worked closely with the public sector to overcome these challenges, developing a range of high quality interpreting and translation services to attract a diverse public membership, and enable them to communicate effectively with local communities, clients and patients.

The services INTRAN has put in place in Norfolk are now available throughout the East of England, and we have continued to expand into the East Midlands and South-East of England. INTRAN is now the largest interpreting and translation partnership in the country.

The contexts within which INTRAN started explain our choices and developments: there were no local interpreters, no interpreting jobs and therefore no incentives for local linguists to train and qualify. Frontline staff, doctors, social workers and the police had no official route to interpreters, and non-English speakers struggled to access public services. This effectively made them invisible, hindered their ability to be independent and integrated in society, and put their safety and wellbeing at greater risk.

On the rare occasions that interpreters were booked, they came from as far afield as Glasgow, leading to considerable booking costs and undesirable service delays.

INTRAN recognised that there was a clear need for radical change, so working closely with a few public managers who wanted to make a difference, we developed the platform that would help to make ‘Communication for All’ a daily reality for many public-facing organisations and the people they serve. Since then, we've worked continuously with our partners to help reduce language barriers and deliver responsive services to all.

Our Values

Communication for All

We believe that everyone has the right to express their needs and understand which services they can use, how they can use them and what options they have.

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Security, quality and safety

We help our members to mitigate the risks of providing a low quality service, and help them meet their duties in confidence.

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Value for Money

We use our economies of scale, expertise and innovation to offer excellent value, with a strong focus on efficiency, prevention and meeting user needs.

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Working together for better results

We help our members to get it right first time. With our help, they can offer effective information and services to all the people and communities they serve.

Where we work

Public-facing organisations operating in the East of England, East Midlands and South of England can access INTRAN services and may be able to do so once they have registered with INTRAN and become a member. Find out more.

About INTRAN

Our Values

Communication for All

Security, quality and safety

Value for Money

Working together for better results

Communication for All

Where we work

More information