In 2000, the members of Congrestolken / Conference Interpreters introduced an award for good causes named after our founder Henri W. Methorst.

The award is a sum of money issued once every two years to an institution, organisation or individual highly dedicated to a multilingual or multicultural cause. In September 2001, the first award was presented to the Dutch Association of Sign Language Interpreters at their European Conference. The association used the award to organise a seminar and workshop about sign language interpreting between Dutch and a minority language.

In 2004, the award went to a children’s home in Soweto toward English language and writing courses for children unable to read and write. This project is supervised by our interpreter Astrid van der Putten, who is also originally from South Africa. Learning to read and write is the only way for the children to achieve social advancement. During our anniversary year in 2006, we will highlight this project.