On Monday 14 November the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and its awarding body the IoL Educational Trust (IoLET) held their annual awards evening at BMA House in London, in the presence of CIOL’s Royal Patron HRH Prince Michael of Kent, who kindly presented the awards.

The awards celebrate the highest achievements in the Educational Trust's professional language exams and recognise the significant contribution made by individuals or organisations to fostering the study of languages.

Ann Carlisle, Chief Executive of CIOL said ‘We are here to celebrate great individual excellence, collective group achievements, success in fostering the study of languages and lifetime commitment to languages and language learning.’

Awards were presented for success in the Diploma in Translation, Diploma in Public Service Interpreting and Diploma in Police Interpreting, as well as for the Certificate in Languages for Business, now in its second year.

Special awards

Two special awards for a significant contribution to promoting the study of languages were also presented. The first went to Dr Lid King, an outstanding linguist who has played a leading role in language policy and education in the UK over many years. He received an award donated by and named after another great linguist, David Crystal.

The final award of the evening, the Threlford Memorial Cup, is a splendid, prestigious trophy first presented in 1935 by CIOL’s founder Sir Lacon Threlford. The award was presented to Sally Fagan. Through her social enterprise venture Business Language Champions, Sally runs events for secondary school pupils, showing how languages can open up exciting career opportunities.

Ann Carlisle described Sally as “a hugely inspiring individual and important role model for school students”.

In her acceptance speech, Sally said: “We are delighted to have been given this award which will add credibility to our organisation and our message, especially this year as we seek to expand into new geographical areas. With Brexit and uncertainties in world politics and economies, competency in other languages has never been more important.”

In his closing speech, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, a fluent Russian speaker, said “Never have languages been so important for the United Kingdom as we seek to redefine our trade relationships”.

Award Winners 2016

• Charlotte Traynor, Huddersfield University: Best candidate in Certificate in Languages for Business
• Shrewsbury High School: Best group entry in Certificate in Languages for Business
• Bruno Rebeschini: Best candidate in Certificate in Bilingual Skills - Police
• Agnieszka Charzyńska: Best candidate in Diploma in Public Service Interpreting - Law
• Dominique de la Cruz: Best candidate in Diploma in Public Service Interpreting - Health                
• Peterborough Interpreting Academy: Best Group Entry in Diploma in Public Service Interpreting
• Véronique Cubilié-Ratio: Best candidate in Diploma in Police Interpreting
• Stefanie Ochel: Best English to German translation in Diploma in Translation
• Sophie Verschuur: Best Literature translation in Diploma in Translation         
• Julien Ivers: Best candidate in Diploma in Translation       
• Akademie für Fremdsprachen: Best group entry in Diploma in Translation
• Dr Lid King: David Crystal Trophy for outstanding contribution to the field of languages
• Sally Fagan, Business Language Champions: Threlford Memorial Cup for fostering the study of languages
• The Spelling Bee received a Special Commendation as runner up to the Threlford Memorial Cup

Further information:
Debbie Butler
Communications and Marketing Manager
Chartered Institute of Linguists
deborah.butler@ciol.org.uk
+44 (0)20 7940 3105