The Threlford Cup

---

History of the Threlford Cup

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

---

Current holder and previous winners

---

2025 winner: GCHQ - for championing languages and linguists in UK Government and nationally

GCHQ are very much the UK's national champions of languages and linguists, and lead work across UK government to identify, value, develop and deploy language skills through leadership of the cross-Government Languages Group and strengthening relationships with academia. 

GCHQ also recruit, develop and encourage their own linguists throughout their careers - whether direct University entrants or via internal language courses. 

Opportunities are offered to further develop language skills, learn new languages and receive in-career mentoring, leading to a highly-skilled corpus of professional government linguists who are rigorously checked for their capabilities but also well-supported in their development, and who, in turn, aid in the development of newer linguists and wider recognition of the value of excellent language skills. 

Adding Outreach and the National Language Competition for schools to their efforts, and co-sponsoring the recent Language Show, GCHQ show consistent leadership for UK languages at all levels - including Home, Heritage and Community Languages.

---

2024 winner: Charity Translators

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

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.

---

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

Stephen Spender Trust

Dr Charlotte Ryland, pictured here with colleagues and CIOL 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.
 

Lingo Flamingo

Lingo Flamingo are deserving of the Threlford Award due to their innovative approach to make language learning accessible for older adults and people living with dementia.
The services and courses offered have been designed by people living with dementia and in conjunction with care homes and day centres across Scotland.
A main reason that Lingo Flamingo teach language lessons to older adults is that research shows that language learning is a very good cognitive workout for the brain and can build up cognitive reserve that helps to strengthen the brain. The ethos at Lingo Flamingo is that it is never too late to learn something new!

---