University of Wales Trinity Saint David has announced that the University’s Welsh language services centre, Rhagoriaith, is to establish a partnership with Cyfatebol, who have recently won a contract to provide subtitling services for S4C.
The partnership has been established following the creation of the University’s Postgraduate Certificate in Subtitling, which is the only professional Welsh-medium qualification available within this specialist field.
The partnership between Rhagoriaith and Cyfatebol will bring the industry and training sector together, and in particular provide opportunities for students to gain work experience and access to the subtitling profession.
The partnership strengthens the relationship that already exists between the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the industry.
Dr Lowri Lloyd, Rhagoriaith Director, explained: “The idea of offering this type of qualification originated from the industry. There have been discussions with a number of major subtitling and broadcasting companies in Wales over time as we developed the course, and the qualification is fully supported by these companies. We are very proud to be able to establish a partnership with another major subtitling company such as Cyfatebol, who have an office on the University’s Carmarthen campus, in Canolfan Yr Egin. We are confident that the relationship will enable us to meet the growing demand within the audio-visual industry for professional subtitlers. ”
Cyfatebol has won the recent S4C contract to provide a subtitling service for English and Welsh for the next four years. The company has offices in Aberystwyth, Cardiff and Carmarthen, and the company subtitling team have over twenty years of subtitling experience on some of S4C’s most popular programmes. This partnership will open opportunities for students to gain exciting experiences within the profession itself.
Mr Owain Saunders-Jones, Cyfatebol Managing Director, said: “As a company, we are very excited to establish this partnership with the University, and Rhagoriaith in particular. The partnership will provide real opportunities for us to raise awareness of the subtitling service, the industry and the profession as a whole and the professional training now available through University of Wales Trinity Saint David”.
Mr Gwilym Dyfri Jones, Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University said; “This development is particularly timely and is an example of the type of collaboration that we were hoping for when establishing Canolfan S4C Yr Egin in Carmarthen. I sincerely hope that the partnership will be prosperous and will set up a model for many other collaborative projects.”
Cyfatebol and Rhagoriaith are able to run Subtitling taster courses
in conjunction with S4C to promote the profession. These workshops provide an opportunity for those interested
in subtitling to get some practical experience, and a taste of the training
provided by the University, together with practical experience of live
subtitling with Cyfatebol staff, in the hope of being able to attract
prospective new subtitlers to a fast-growing industry.