Raced for Life – so that was Tatton Park! Phew…

on Jun 19 in People tagged , , by

Been there, done that – our heroes finished the 10km course on an alternately sunny and cloudy Sunday. Amidst 2200 other lasses in the de rigueur pink gear, Lynn, Jackie, Priya, and Joanne (and Mark there as Team Support/pack mule) romped around the beautiful Tatton Park course passing picturesque lakes, magnificent old trees, a stately home, herds of deer and superb views over the rolling Cheshire countryside (almost as nice as our own Lancashire’s!). The ominous battleship grey skies at the start softened to white cloud as we walked and then to a lovely spring day after the race – perfect race conditions really, not wet, not too hot, not windy. The real surprise came afterward, when meeting with Jackie’s family by Craig’s van he opened the van’s side door with a flourish to reveal a banqueting table laid with wine, cold buffet, candles, napkins and posh cutlery, surrounded by proper wooden chairs! The obligatory pix are of course below – thanks to everyone who took part, and especially to Craig and Joanne who gave a whole new meaning to post-race refreshments!

Again, a great big “Well done!” to those who took part in the Tatton Park Race for Life, and who has taken part or will be taking part in any of the many other Cancer Research UK events around the UK – check out the pages at Race For Life to see what’s on in your area.

Lifeline races for life – AGAIN!

on Jun 12 in People tagged by

Following our success at Southport (where we raised £265!!!) our band of heroes (well, 2 of them – plus Mark but he’s a guy so doesn’t really count) will be reprising their tired legs and windswept hairstyles this Sunday 19 June in the 10km Tatton Park Race for Life (only twice as far as last time – oh good…)

There will of course be PICTURES to come – but meanwhile, check out Lynn’s Race for Life page here - there’s a pic of our heroes in action last time, and of course you’re welcome to throw a little sponsorship her way if you like – it’s a brilliant cause and is helping not only our friends, but with 1 in 3 people being directly affected at some point there’s a good chance that you’ll be helping your own friends and family too. If you’re in the area why not come along and cheer us on!

Thanks much in advance – maybe see you there!

Lifeline races for life!

on May 15 in People tagged , , by

Before our competitors get too excited by the heading I should clarify – the Lifeline team piled into Southport today to join Cancer Research UK’s Race For Life to raise money for researching this cruel and brutal illness. Everyone was there except 2 who couldn’t make it and another who was there, but committed to running with another team (hi Sarah!). Over 1600 ladies aged 2 to 82 participated, in oufits from the practical to the peculiar and included a pair who completed the 5km course as a 3-legged race and a team of 4 carrying an inflatable dinosaur (also of course wearing the essential pink T-shirt). Lifeline opted for Company logo’d T-shirts and “sensible” kit giving a practical but cool look – in the less than clement weather, a little too cool and the T-shirts were largely obscured by jackets until the gang warmed up!

As you may know it’s an event for the fairer sex only so Mark was there in a photographic and support role – but dutifully completed the course with the girls anyway! A few pix are below – fortunately the potential downpour stayed away, and the worst we faced was a stiff breeze and light showers… we’ve yet to tot-up the proceeds but it looks like a couple of hundred pounds for this excellent cause.

For most who took part the Race is a real opportunity to have fun and raise money to help friends and relatives – and for some the research may save their own lives one day. On a depressing  note however we were stunned to hear that 1 in 3 will fail to send in their sponsorship money. While some of these may forget, for most of them this is simple and cynical theft from the family, friends and colleagues who’ve sponsored them in good faith. In case any of these thieves are reading this we want them to know they’re really, really pathetic…

For everyone else though, a great big “Well done!” to those who took part in the Southport Race for Life, and who has taken part or will be taking part in any of the many other Cancer Research UK events around the UK – check out the pages at Race For Life to see what’s on in your area. It’s a great way to spend a morning – we all enjoyed it, despite the weather, and some of us are already planning to join the Tatton Park event in June – which is only twice as far… gulp!

To finish – pix! We have below:  Lifeline & friends BEFORE the race…

Lifeline warming up to the Village People’s “YMCA” (no, seriously!)

… and Lifeline & friends POST-Race – tired but happy, medals in hand!

(Yet another) Happy client – conference transcription this time

on Apr 14 in Interpretation, Language, People, Transcription tagged , , , by

Just delivered hours & hours of conference transcription for an international petroleum client – and we’re pleased to report they told us, “Many thanks to you and your team for turning this around so quickly … we will undoubtedly be calling on your services again”

Many thanks Victoria! Transcription – particularly conference transcription – is often needed quickly and of course must be accurate – so here’s evidence that we do it well! This one was in English, but we offer similar transcription services in many other languages – and of course can also translate the transcripts too. With conference transcripts being reviewed twice against the audio it’s time-consuming so we’re not the cheapest, but our various happy transcription clients seem to think we’re worth it…

The biggest problem with this project was the French to English conference interpreting (which we DIDN’T provide!) – frequent long pauses before the speech was translated, which when it finally emerged came out rushed and unclear. This obviously makes the transcriber’s job harder – but more importantly, it means the delegates themselves lost much of the content. If you’re looking to hold a conference, you could do worse for your conference interpreting (as this demonstrates) than to consider our services.

Still no Walking Wednesday!

on Apr 14 in Language, Voiceover tagged by

I know we promised regular nature walks on Weds but the job’s getting in the way – I was on an early train last Wednesday to visit a TV company in London on a nice big new voiceover project, and this week Lynn’s off to Bristol to attend a business conference… normal service will hopefully be restored next week!

That’s one problem with success – it’s very demanding of your time! But we wouldn’t have it any other way…

Well done all – £250 for Shelterbox for Japan!

on Apr 14 in People tagged by

You may have seen from our website and this blog that we’re putting £1 from every March job to Shelterbox - so there’ll be a cheque on the way to them very shortly for £250. Thanks to everyone who used our services in March – isn’t it good to know that, as well as getting great friendly service and quality product, you’ve done something good?   ;)

Thanks again, and best wishes from all the team here!

Walking Wednesdays!

on Mar 31 in People, Uncategorized tagged by

Following our lovely spring walk last week we thought we’d do it again! Cooler and damper this morning, but even more wildlife with highlights today including a gorgeous little Nuthatch stashing seeds away, and a Heron giving us a low pass about 20 feet up – magnificent, like watching an airplane! Preston Council bless ‘em have been putting good work into the nature trails, and it’s well enough maintained to provide a gentle and non-muddy walk to work. There’s a pic below of the main trail, then a view across the park with some of the first daffodils, and last the beautiful Ribble from the middle of the footbridge.

Someone’s started to put birdseed on old trunks at intervals along the track, which is a great idea – you encounter these little islands of bustling bird activity! Along with the heron and nuthatch in our 3 mile stroll this morning we encountered Blue, Great and Long-tailed tits, Robins, Chaffinch, Dunnock, and Blackbird – magic, and beautiful birdsong! And there’s a huge old tree full of massive black crows “cawing” harshly in the morning air – immediately brought to mind a battlefield from a medieval movie…

We’re going to try and make this a weekly event, although we may be less keen when the rain comes… we’ll share more highlights, it’s much too nice to keep to ourselves!

Free guide to language translation!

on Mar 31 in Advice, Guide, Help, Language, Translation tagged by

We have a different business model to most – we believe nice guys really can win! With 21 years successful language translation service delivery under our belts, we find clients are tiring of the “what’s in it for me”  model many suppliers follow and are increasingly buying-in to the friendly supportive translation Lifeline provides.

As part of that we’re proud to announce the addition to our website of our new free, downloadable Really Helpful Friendly Guide to Language Translation – language translation which you don’t have to get from us! The guide gives you lots of helpful advice on what to watch for and how to prep jobs to obtain the best translation, whatever translation provider you use. You can download it from the link above, from our main Language Translation page, or from any of our Language pages such as the French, German, Spanish, Russian or Polish ones.

Here’s a funny thing – did you know anyone can start a translation agency in the UK? They actually need no language qualifications or translation ability whatsoever, so sourcing translation really is a case of caveat emptor – which is why our Guide and FAQ page offer helpful advice on seeing beyond the marketing hype to spot the genuine translation providers.

Also coming (very) soon are our Guides on language voiceover and language interpreting, to be followed by helpful Guides on language  transcription and multilingual typesetting. You’ll also be able to download our infosheets on Medical Interpreting and Insurance Translation and Interpreting. All these will be the subject of new posts – watch this space! We’ll be building on and extending these so stop back occasionally.

BOING! Spring is sprung at Lifeline

on Mar 24 in People tagged by

Who says it’s grim Up North? Another magnificent day here yesterday so we decided to walk to and from the office. Lynn and I live about 3 miles away, and by brilliant planning do so at the other end of a nature trail (“the old tramway”) which runs straight into Preston’s magnificent Avenham and Miller parks. From there it’s a brief 10 minute stroll through Preston centre past our superb Victorian library and busy market (handy for buying breakfast) to our smashing offices (pic on our Contact Us page).

It’s not often a commute includes a Treecreeper no more than 5 feet away busily exploring the trunk of one of the magnificent trees that line the tramway, or a pair of Greater Spotted Woodpeckers checking out the older trees for a new home – we often hear the staccato drilling sound, but this is the first time we’d seen it being made. Amazing – being a woodpecker with a hangover must be one of the worst things EVER…! Treecreepers are really cute – there’s a pic of one below.

We thought we’d include a couple of our own pics – these are taken on my phone from Avenham Park looking back down at where we’ve come from, through the woods at top right of the left-hand pic across the river, and across the beautiful footbridge that spans the fantastic Ribble in the right-hand pic (forgot to mention that the river looked stunning in the morning sun) – it’s a shame we couldn’t record the torrent of birdsong all the way!

We think it’s a shame that so many business blogs are S-o-o-o-o Boring – we’ll be adding more fun and pleasant stuff to ours in future so stop by!

Thinking of Japan

on Mar 13 in Uncategorized tagged by

Following the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan our thoughts are with Japan and her people. We have both clients and suppliers with friends, family and colleagues there and we extend to them our sympathy and best wishes. More practically we will be contributing £1 from every job we do in March to Shelterbox, the UK charity providing shelter and relief supplies to disaster victims. We chose Shelterbox partly because it has no religious or political affiliation but mainly because it provides real stuff real people can use immediately – tents, stoves, water purification, blankets, and tools.