Author: itieastanglia

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Meet our member Crystelle Mills-Smith!

Name: Crystelle Mills-Smith
Services offered: Translation, editing and proofreading
Language combination(s): French to English
Specialisms: Legal, Technical (Defence & Railways), Corporate communications
Location: Colchester, Essex
Website: www.crystellemillssmith.co.uk
Contact info: crystelle@crystellemillssmith.co.uk

Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

I studied French and German at the University of Sussex, before moving on to the University of Bradford to study for an MA in Interpreting and Translating. After completing my master’s dissertation, I applied for and was offered a job as an in-house linguist at the UK Ministry of Defence. After 10 years at the MoD, I took up a post as an English translator at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. I stayed there for a year before returning to the UK to set up as a freelance translator.

What services do you provide and in what areas?

I offer translation services from French to English in the legal and technical fields and I also translate corporate communications (newsletters, training manuals, etc.). In addition, I provide editing and proof-reading services to a small number of clients.

What makes you stand out?

I have a French background (my mother is French and I have family in France), I speak, read and write French on a daily basis and spend as much time as I can in France. Being immersed in the language helps me to really understand the idiomatic expressions and cultural references that crop up in the texts I work on.

What do you like most about your job?

The variety! I enjoy the challenge of working on different types of text and the intellectual exercise of translation. For example, over the past couple of months I’ve been translating website copy for a bed and breakfast business based in Burgundy. This is totally different to the technical manuals and legal documents that make up the bulk of my work. I love really getting to grips with a French text and producing an English version that reads naturally.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I run a successful trampoline club and I coach trampolining for 11 hours each week. As well as travelling to various venues in East Anglia for regional competitions, several of the gymnasts I coach also compete at national level so we travel around the UK for competitions too. I’ve been to Cardiff and Sussex so far this year, and will be travelling to Durham, Birmingham and Sheffield later in the year. I also enjoy gardening and reading.

What’s your favourite part of East Anglia?

I love Dedham Vale, and Constable Country more generally, and I also enjoy spending time on the coast around Mersea Island and Tollesbury. Colchester itself is a great place to live too: we have some fascinating history right on our doorstep with the castle, the Roman wall and circus, Gosbecks archaeological park and many other places of interest in and around the city.

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Meet our member Laura Elvin!

Name: Laura Elvin
Services offered: Translation
Language combination(s): French to English
Specialisms: Law
Location: Meldreth, South Cambridgeshire
Website: https://www.themislegaltrans.co.uk
Contact info: laura@themislegaltrans.co.uk

Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

I studied French and Spanish at university but then decided to go to law school. That led to me working as a lawyer in a busy and well-respected Cambridge firm for 18 years, before and after qualification as a solicitor. Much of my work involved handling property transactions for university clients. Later on, I became a professional support lawyer, providing in-house advice to colleagues, creating precedent documents and editing client newsletters. In the end, though, I couldn’t resist the urge to work with languages again and so re-trained as a legal translator about 12 years ago.

What services do you provide and in what areas?

I translate legal documents from French into English. This can cover anything from judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU and decisions of international tribunals to employment contracts, confidentiality agreements, terms and conditions of sale and personal documents such as wills, divorce settlements and powers of attorney.

What makes you stand out?

My years of hands-on experience in legal practice give me a thorough understanding of why legal documents are drafted in the way they are, how transactions are structured and judgments arrived at and, ultimately, what makes lawyers tick!

What do you like most about your job?

I love being able to work with both law and languages. The combination of the two ticks all the intellectual boxes in my brain and I find it immensely satisfying. I also love the fact that no two days are the same and there’s always something new to learn. But more than that, I really appreciate the feeling of camaraderie among translators, both in the East Anglia Network and further afield, who never hesitate to provide help and support when needed. More generally, I love freelance work for the flexibility and work–life balance it offers.

What do you do when you’re not working?

If I’m not walking the dog or doing Pilates, I’ll be singing! For many years I’ve been involved in barbershop singing, a hobby that has taken me all over the UK and even to Honolulu and Las Vegas. I’m also in a pop choir which is a lot of fun. I find singing to be a real tonic and perfect antidote to sitting at a desk for hours.

In addition, I volunteer once a week through a charity called REUK, helping a young refugee with his English and Maths homework, which is very rewarding.

What’s your favourite part of East Anglia?

Despite having grown up in Oxford, I really love Cambridge. There is something special about wandering through the ancient streets and watching the punts on the river, while areas like Mill Road have a great vibe. I also have a soft spot for Ely, where my daughter lives. There’s a fantastic market and of course the cathedral is spectacular. I also enjoy holidays on the North Norfolk coast and especially love seeing the seals at Blakeney Point. But East Anglia is so varied that I know I still have a lot more to explore!

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Meet our member Frances Clarke!

Name: Frances Clarke
Services offered: Translation
Language combination(s): German to English
Specialisms: Finance (financial reporting, corporate communications, investor relations and sustainability reporting) and sport (primarily football)
Location: Saffron Walden, Essex
Website: www.fclarketranslations.com
Contact info: frances@fclarketranslations.com

Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

After studying German and Italian at university, I worked as an investment bank and hedge fund analyst for several years. Although I loved the work, I soon realised I wanted to make better use of my languages, so I left the City behind to retrain as a German to English financial translator. More than a decade later, I’m still so glad I took the plunge.

What services do you provide and in what areas?

The majority of my work is financial translation from German into English, which usually means translating company accounts and corporate communications for specific companies as well as market reports and economic forecasts for research firms and government departments.

To add some variety to my professional life, I also specialise in sports translation, particularly football. In November and December last year, I worked on my third World Cup, translating match reports and player interviews for fans around the world to enjoy. I love the beautiful game, so being personally involved in a major tournament gives me a real buzz!

What makes you stand out?

My real-world experience in investment banking and asset management informs each and every one of my translation decisions. Whenever I’m trying to find the right words for an annual report or press release, I think back to my time as an analyst and remember how important it was to be able to find accurate, clear and concise information quickly and easily – not least because I was usually working around the clock to meet tight deadlines.

What do you like most about your job?

I love the puzzle of translating: the quest to find precisely the right way of reproducing the meaning, intent and even the style and tone of the original text. It involves so much more than just leafing through dictionaries to pick out the correct words; it also means immersing yourself in the subject at hand, putting yourself in the author’s shoes to work out precisely why they chose the particular words they did, and thinking about who will read the text at the end of it all.

What do you do when you’re not working?

As translation involves sitting at a desk for hours at a time, I spend much of my free time chasing a ball around on either a football pitch, a tennis court or a netball court. Like many of us in wordy professions, I’m also an avid reader – and right now I seem to have a particular obsession with anything involving anatomy, forensics or medical memoirs! Last but not least, I find playing the piano an amazing way to unwind, and I’m also a keen singer.

What’s your favourite part of East Anglia?

Although I was born and raised in South Essex, I’ve only discovered East Anglia slowly over time. It revealed some of its secrets when my husband and I moved to beautiful Saffron Walden in the far north-west corner of Essex seven years ago, and more still when my parents relocated to Norfolk last year.

There’s so much to love about the region – cities, coastline and countryside – but I think we’re so lucky to have Norwich and Cambridge close by. They’re both utterly charming, steeped in history and each have their own distinctive character. Southwold also deserves a special mention.

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Meet our member David Stockings!

Name: David Stockings
Services offered: Translation, editing, copywriting
Language combination(s): Translation: German and French to English, Editing and copywriting: English
Specialisms: Finance (particularly CSR), sustainability, environmental science
Location: Chelmsford, Essex
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dstockings/
Contact info: dstockings.translation@gmail.com

Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

Before becoming a translator, I was working in the charity sector and training as an accountant, and I completed the ACCA’s Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business. When I first started as a translator after completing my MA in Specialised Translation, I mainly worked on financial reporting and other mandatory disclosure documentation. I always found the way companies of all sizes think about and present their non-financial impact and targets fascinating, so over time I have slowly focused in on the areas of corporate social responsibility, socially responsible investing, sustainability and environmental science.

What services do you provide and in what areas?

I provide translation of written documents from French and German to English, primarily in the fields mentioned above. I also offer editing of English texts, particularly (but not exclusively) for academics and researchers writing in English as a second language. I also recently started offering copywriting services in English for projects or initiatives relating to environmental impact, corporate social responsibility, socially responsible investing, the circular economy and biomimicry.

When not translating, I teach French and German to English translation on Master’s courses at three London-based universities. I also make a podcast for new and prospective translators called Source2Target.

What makes you stand out?

Beyond all the normal attributes you need to make it as a freelancer, I think what makes me stand out is my curiosity and commitment to really understanding whatever I am working on. I love getting below the surface into the detail of the processes and mechanisms involved, be they scientific, regulatory, societal, etc. I love coming across an idea or an approach to a problem that I have never heard of or would never think of, particularly if it challenges something that is generally taken for granted. That genuine interest really drives me to really ‘get it right’ for my clients.

What do you like most about your job?

Carrying on from the previous question, I love that I get to work on material that my clients are so passionate and enthusiastic about. It gives me great satisfaction to know that I am helping in some way to advance ideas and practices that will make the world a better place, and particularly a more sustainable place. And I love the variety, too! There is practically no part of our lives that is not affected by questions of sustainability, so I get to work on texts looking at issues that span every part of our global supply chains and economy.

What do you do when you’re not working?

The curiosity I mentioned extends into every area of my life, and I have a lot of hobbies that would probably be classed as ‘crafts’. For me though, they are united by the core principle of understanding how everyday things actually work. For example, I spin wool, knit and weave, and I have previously learned about bookbinding and stained glass window-making. The hobby that takes up most of time, though, is my allotment, where I grow a fair share of my family’s food. I spend a lot of time thinking about how food is produced and how it could be done more sustainably.

What’s your favourite part of East Anglia?

My allotment, of course! But really, I love most of the Essex countryside, which is hugely underrated in my opinion. One of my favourite places to visit is Hyde Hall, not least because of their fascinating international vegetable garden. I was born and raised in Essex, so I have many happy memories of the county’s coast as well, like Frinton beach. The town of Maldon is also special to me, as it’s where I (theoretically, at least) learned to sail, though you wouldn’t necessarily want to get into any boat I was helming these days!

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Meet our member Sarah Bowtell!

Name: Sarah Bowtell
Services offered: Translation
Language combination(s): French/Arabic to English
Specialisms: Travel and tourism, education
Location: Witham, Essex
Website: www.ztranslations.co.uk
Contact info: sarah@ztranslations.co.uk

Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

I graduated with a degree in French and Arabic in 2014, which included a fantastic year abroad in Jordan. I then spent a year as an English language assistant in the wonderful Champagne-Ardennes region of France. Job opportunities led me to the luxury travel industry followed by the education sector where I did a lot of work with international students. I decided languages had been on the fringes of my career for too long and I wanted to return to using them in my main work, so in 2021 I completed my MA Translation Studies. Since then, I’ve really enjoyed using the skills I’ve developed over the last eight years in my translation work.

What services do you provide and in what areas?

I offer translation services from French and Arabic into English with a focus on content in the fields of travel and tourism as well as education. I’m particularly interested in marketing texts like website content, blogs and social media posts. I’m also currently building my knowledge in the field of finance. As a self-professed maths geek, it’s always been something I’m interested in and I’m hoping to be able to take on some finance translation work soon.

What makes you stand out?

I think I’m just really friendly! I always try to connect with the people I work with, whether that’s clients, project managers or other colleagues and I love to hear people’s life stories. As well as being personable though, I’m reliable, realistic and client focused. I see translations as a joint venture, where the client is trusting me with their content and it’s my responsibility (and joy!) to bring that content to the English-speaking audience in a culturally sensitive way.

What do you like most about your job?

I’m still fairly new to calling myself a translator but so far I love the supportiveness of other translators (especially the ITI East Anglia network!). I also really enjoy getting to learn new things all the time, whether that’s through terminology research or meeting people from all walks of life.

What do you do when you’re not working?

With a baby and a dog, there is always plenty to do outside work. I love going for a long walk as a family followed by coffee or lunch. I’m also a member of Essex Bootcamp, an exercise class where we train in all weathers so it’s really fun to try and get out and train as much as possible even on dark winter nights. When I can, I also try to fit in a spot of ballroom dancing as it’s a great way to relax and learn a new skill. 

What’s your favourite part of East Anglia?

For me, it has to be Maldon. I must have walked around Promenade Park hundreds of times (and run it a few times now too since starting the park run) but the view across the Blackwater Estuary looking up to St Mary’s Church and across to the Thames barges never ceases to delight me. The high street also has a great collection of cafés, tea rooms and independent shops like Maldon Books.

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Oh, the horror! An afternoon with H. P. Lovecraft and Stephen King

On a gloomy late October afternoon some of our network members gathered for a fun Halloween-themed online writing workshop.

The attendees were divided into two groups and each group received an assignment: they first analysed a sample of a well-known horror author’s writing with the help of some prompts and then they set out to write their own piece in that author’s style.

One of the teams worked on a Victorian story in H. P. Lovecraft’s style, while the other one had to imitate the contemporary American writer, Stephen King.

And… Here are the results!

King impersonators

Written by Fiona Gray, Holly-Anne Whyte, Alanah Reynor and Afra Madkhana

It was 15 minutes after midnight and Burt Fitzgerald had just dozed off when a loud crash had awoken him from a fitful dream, the kind you have when you’re sleeping in a bed that’s not your own. It was the old bed in the attic room that creaked and groaned in harmony with the wind outside. It was the last week of October, the run up to Halloween, and houses along the street were decked with dollar-store cobwebs and jack-o’-lanterns, their flames flickering and sputtering out as the storm picked up. I’d just gone out for the third time to relight the candles purchased for the occasion, yet more paraphernalia, a tribute to the Gods of the consumer season that my wife had worshiped as a devoted disciple. Each year she had filled her cart with Walmart’s finest from mid-September through to the new year like a magpie gathering shiny trinkets for his mate.

Love-crafted lines

Written by David Stockings, Laura Elvin and Anikó Pető-Mordovski

There is no arrogance greater than keeping a journal of the mundane and workaday thoughts of the average man; the compulsion to capture the most trivial detail of human existence against the grand significance of the cosmic cycle is pitiable. And yet, when one happens to chance upon the diary of a truly transcendent mind, one cannot help but be enmarvelled. Such was the case when I opened the mysterious brown package delivered by persons unseen and with no postmark to my office at the College. I was amazed to recognise the singular handwriting of my late colleague, Professor Emeritus Archibald Homer Augustus III.

The journal contained oracular but alarming statements about the universe and human existence; at least those parts that had not been scratched out with frenzied penstrokes, which grew greater in number as the journal progressed. These unnerving revelations – which I shall not burden you with – were still weighing heavily on my mind as I drifted off to sleep. I found no rest in my slumber, plagued as my dreams were by shapes that my mind could not interpret and echoes of the esteemed professor’s words ringing out in the dark.

Jolted awake by a sudden rapping at my chamber window, I hastily sprang out of bed and flung open the windows, struggling against the gales that battered the walls of my abode. Spying nothing amiss, I battled to close the casements, and attempted to return to my fitful rest; futile, of course. The rapping came again, more insistent than before, but seemingly at the tradesmen’s door this time.

Arming myself with the third volume of Dictionary of the Semitic Languages in one hand and a brass candlestick in the other, I hastened down the stairs, not even pausing to throw on my house coat. Once in the kitchen, I gathered my resolve and prepared to throw open the door and catch the miscreant off-guard. But the heavy oak portal swung open to reveal…nothing; no sign of a living being, neither animal nor human. Feeling somewhat foolish, I was about to turn to fasten the door, when all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed a dark anthropic ectoplasm lingering beneath the skeleton of a lightning-stricken apple tree. As I narrowed my eyes to focus on the figure in the stormy gloom, my blood ran cold in my veins as the realisation struck me: the shadowy figure was, beyond a doubt, none other than the journal’s author, Archibald Homer Augustus III!

You can read more about the workshop in the January-February 2023 issue of the ITI Bulletin.

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We are on LinkedIn!

Did you know? The ITI East Anglia Network is now on LinkedIn!

As most of our members are active on LinkedIn, we thought having a LinkedIn page for the network would be a great way of keeping in touch and sharing network news. It would also be a good place for people thinking about joining us to learn more about what we do at the ITI East Anglia Network.

Follow us for network updates, localisation industry news and much more! Feel free to tag us if you have an update to share on the platform!

Find us at: ITI East Anglia Network

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Meet our member Roger Rayner!

Name: Roger Rayner
Services offered: Translation & MTPE
Language combination(s): German/French to English
Specialisms: Music, Art, Architecture, Travel and Tourism, Culinary, Automotive
Location: Norwich, East Anglia
Website: www.languistory.com
Contact info: roger@languistory.com

Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

As a translator involved for many years in the arts, especially music, and as a traveller, I now communicate through words instead of music in order to bring these subjects to a wider international readership. My specialist knowledge and language skills guarantee translations that endorse the authority of the original author. I also offer experience in automotive translation especially diesel engines and tracked vehicles; I further offer well developed skills in MTPE.

What services do you provide and in what areas?

Translation of documents, academic papers, biographies, film scripts, new products, including snow groomers…

My specialisms include music, architecture, art/literary, tourism and travel, culinary, automotive translation.

MTPE

What makes you stand out?

My lifelong experience of language use hopes to guarantee accuracy and punctuality along with the willingness to perform an extra service if I can. I aim to help with culturally adapted material especially in architecture, art, classical music and travel. My training in two completely different performance traditions alongside my knowledge and experience as a traveller maybe enables me to bring a particular insight into European cultures.

What do you like most about your job?

There’s a lot of pleasure in searching for exactly the right term to match the source, at the same time keeping the tone and register in mind. Even texts that might at first produce just a slight groan turn out far more interesting than at first glance; and there is so much to be learnt from pieces even on familiar subjects. It is good to be able to work at the moments when my concentration is at its best (early morning, to my own surprise) and to be alone!

What do you do when you’re not working?

Walking is my favourite way of leaving everything behind, and I love going to the theatre and concerts, especially events such as plays, opera and ballet where I don’t know enough to be too critical. Radio comedy has always been a great way to unwind, and I am addicted to Just a Minute – now wonderfully chaired by Sue Perkins, herself a brilliant player.

What’s your favourite part of East Anglia?

Thetford Forest, where my parents took me as far back as I can remember. It made me love pine trees particularly, which are very much a feature of the Fichtelgebirge, the first place I visited in Germany.

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Working alone together… and working together

A guest post from our member Holly-Anne Whyte on our first business retreat.

Laura Elvin, David Stockings, Holly-Anne Whyte, Frances Clarke and Anikó Pető-Mordovski on retreat

We all know that freelancing can be a lonely life and we can easily get stuck in a rut. Fortunately, we have a fantastic local network of colleagues with a wealth of experience and our first joint business retreat was a great opportunity to make the most of it.

Following the retreat we prepared an article for the Bulletin on how it worked and what we achieved. I won’t repeat that here. And while I was tempted to go into the logistics of organizing the event (and wrote a few hundred words on the topic), I scrapped that version in favour of some more general reflections.

What is a business retreat?

Put simply, it’s an opportunity to work on our business, rather than in it. An opportunity to consider what we want from our business, what it looks like now, what we want it to look like and how we might get there.

While I had always taken time out to work on my business (easily done in the early days when projects are few and far between), the idea of structuring the process more formally was inspired by the Deliberate Freelancer podcast: https://deliberatefreelancer.libsyn.com/3-host-a-solo-business-retreat. (Host Melanie has done a few more episodes on her own business retreats, so I’d definitely recommend checking them out.)

What do you actually do at a business retreat?

I tend to split the “behind the scenes” of my business into four main categories, each of which has several sub-categories:

Services and training

  • Service offerings
  • Side projects
  • CPD audit

Market:

  • Clients profiles (current and desired)
  • USP and value proposition
  • Market analysis
  • Marketing
    • Branding
    • Online presence
    • Etc.

Operations:

  • Tools and technology
  • Physical infrastructure (desk, etc.)
  • Daily routine

Finances:

  • Analysis of current situation
  • Goals
  • Rates
  • Expenses

A business retreat gives us the time to analyse some of all or these areas with a critical eye, to think about what works – and what doesn’t – and to set SMART goals to shape our businesses the way we want.

Working alone together…

For much of the business retreat we worked alone. So what was the point in meeting up? There’s something about working in a room with other people (people to whom you’ll report what you’ve actually done) that holds us accountable for actually focusing and doing those things.

The change of scenery helps too. It puts our brains in a different mode, one more prepared to think outside the box, innovate and take risks. I think that’s really important when we want to find new ways to move our businesses forward or get them back on the right track.

… and working together

Being able to bounce ideas off people who “just get it” was, for me, incredibly invigorating. Whether it was a brief interruption during our solo working time or as part of group activities, everyone’s enthusiasm for sharing ideas, relating and helping each other was palpable. We are social animals after all and or brains weren’t designed to solve problems alone (see https://youarenotsosmart.com/2022/05/29/yanss-234-how-to-create-better-online-environments-in-which-arguing-and-deliberation-is-more-likely-to-change-peoples-minds/).*

What’s more, it’s always heartening to know that others share your struggles and take joy in your successes. Who better to understand our lives than other freelance translators. Online is really no substitute for the buzz of someone finishing your sentence to build on an idea, seeing them roll their eyes in sympathy when you talk about a nightmare client or sharing that relief in hearing everyone is wrangling with the bigger picture.

The aftermath

Since the retreat, I have found I am more focused, more purposeful and more productive. I’m getting things off the backburner that should never have been there in the first place. I feel more connected to our translator community and beyond grateful for it.

I can’t wait for the next edition. See you there?

*Yes, I love podcasts…

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Meet our member Hazel Hayman!

Name: Hazel Hayman
Service(s) offered: Translation & Editing
Language combination(s): Spanish to English
Specialism(s): Medical
Location: Suffolk, East Anglia
Website: www.avellanatranslations.com         
Contact info: hazel@avellanatranslations.com

Could you tell us a bit about your professional background?

I always had a passion for both languages and medicine. When I left school I studied Spanish at university, however, after that I trained as a nurse. I worked in the NHS for around 10 years in various posts. In 2019, I couldn’t ignore my passion for languages anymore and I returned to translation. I worked as an interpreter at the Monaco Grand Prix, which was amazing, but I prefer working with the written rather than the spoken word. I then went on to take on some stand-alone projects and humanitarian work, before settling in pharmacovigilance, clinical trials and medical journal work.

What services do you provide and in what areas?

I offer medical translation and editing services from Spanish to English (all variants). My translation work is primarily with pharmacovigilance and clinical trials. I also peer-review edit and/or translate academic articles for publication. 

In addition, I have an interest in literary translation and academia, particularly in the areas of constrained translation and humour. This is an area I have been working on out of hours and is something I am looking to expand into in the future.

What makes you stand out?

My background as a nurse means I have experience and understanding that goes beyond solely linguistic knowledge of the subject. This, combined with my linguistic training, enables me to quality control documents more thoroughly and ensure attention to detail at all times. However, I am always mindful this is the client’s project and may be the culmination of many months of hard work. I understand this and respect the different skill sets each professional brings to a project.

When working in the medical sector confidentiality is crucial; I maintain many of the confidentiality practices I was taught whilst in the NHS to ensure no-one other than myself has access to my client’s data whilst it is in my care.

What do you like most about your job?

I love the problem-solving aspect of my job. Words across different languages don’t always map together equally, and sometimes it can be a challenge trying to find the right word. For example, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, new words were being generated and they also had to be re-created in the other language. For me, every word is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Individually it may not mean much, but the right words, fitting together in the right way, have the ability to paint a powerful image.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I love being in the water! I spend much of my time kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding and swimming. Lowestoft is a great place for this! (I recently built a paddlesports translation glossary too.) I also love sitting in a café on the seafront with a good book and a nice cup of coffee or three (latté for me please). If I’m not doing that, I’m probably going to be relaxing with my church family or spending time with my boyfriend.

What’s your favourite part of East Anglia?

I would say Lowestoft; it’s the place I have spent the most time in the region. I love the beaches, the broads, the café culture, and most of my family and friends are here. It’s where I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life. However, I’m spending increasing amounts of time in Stowmarket these days and I’m getting to explore other parts of the region. But Lowestoft definitely has a special place in my heart (plus it has the sea!).