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History of the Threlford Cup

First presented in 1935 by Sir Lacon Threlford, Founder of the Institute of Linguists, the cup was described as the world's greatest trophy for fostering the study of languages and of marvellous beauty.
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Current holder and previous winners

2024 winner: Charity Translators

Cari Bottois, the charity's co-founder, is pictured with John Worne, CEO ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½, to receive the award on behalf of all volunteers at Charity Translators.

has grown from just a handful of volunteers to a community of over 1500 volunteers who use their language skills to support a wide variety of charitable projects. These include support for human rights, education, migration, mental health and palliative care to name just a few.

As Charity Translators have said of themselves: "We are 100% people-powered and our reward comes from using our languages and knowledge of translation and interpreting to help charities and their beneficiaries.

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In 2023 the Threlford Cup was awarded jointly to two winners:

Dr Charlotte Ryland, pictured here with colleagues and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Patron Prince Michael of Kent, was awarded the Threlford Cup for her work as Director of the Stephen Spender Trust (SST). Inspired by the vision, beliefs and actions of Stephen Spender toward multilingualism and the importance of languages in society, the Stephen Spender Trust has developed a number of outstanding competitions and awards promoting multilingual translation of literature. Their flagship programme ‘Creative Translation for All’ is representative of their cultural activism around a diverse range of languages. Initiatives include Poetry in Translation Award and Creative Translation Education programmes in schools.

Robbie Norval, pictured here with ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Patron Prince Michael of Kent, picked up the award on behalf of Lingo Flamingo, an organisation with an innovative approach to making language learning accessible for older adults and people living with dementia which recognises that language learning helps strengthen the brain. Participants have reported an increased sense of worth and self-confidence, and they have the opportunity to complete an SQA certified unit which provides them with a sense of achievement and accomplishment. The ethos is that it is never too late to learn something new!

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