HITS & Community Action: Interpreting a Better Future

This year, the Hemel Old Town Beer Festival isn’t just celebrating great ale; it’s helping us mark 25 years of Herts Interpreting & Translation (HITS).

To celebrate our “Silver” anniversary, we are proud to sponsor a cask of Ossett Brewery’s ‘Silver King’.
Since it was founded in 2001, HITS has grown from a small local initiative into one of the UK’s leading providers of professional language services. Today, HITS supports more than 15,000 people every year, delivering interpreting and translation across 330+ languages and dialects in hospitals, courts, and community environments.

What truly defines HITS is its impact.

Each year, thousands of conversations facilitated by HITS help remove critical barriers – ensuring people can access healthcare, legal support, and essential services safely and confidently. For many, this isn’t just helpful – it is vital. Without interpretation, individuals risk misunderstanding diagnoses, missing appointments, or being excluded entirely from services they depend on.

The impact can be seen in everyday moments that matter. It’s there in the journeys made possible by Community Transport for residents who would otherwise be isolated, in the reassurance felt by those navigating services in an unfamiliar language, and in the opportunities created for people to develop new skills and futures. HITS makes sure that communication is never the reason someone is left behind.

Through partnerships with organisations such as the Job Centre, HITS helps bilingual residents turn their language skills into employment. Some have joined the HITS team as interpreters, while others have found work elsewhere, strengthening both the local economy and the wider language services sector.

Beyond its scale and expertise, its purpose is what sets HITS apart.

As a social enterprise within Community Action Dacorum, HITS combines commercial excellence with a powerful social mission. All profits generated are reinvested into the charity’s work, so every assignment directly improves lives in our community and helps create a sustainable cycle of impact.
HITS also plays a key role in Community Action Dacorum’s wider work as a local charity making a difference to people’s lives, enabling collaboration between charities, supporting wellbeing initiatives, and helping residents remain active and connected within their community. Its contribution underpins a network of support that touches thousands of lives each year.

At its core, HITS is about access, inclusion and opportunity and the belief that everyone should be able to be heard and understood — whatever their background or circumstances.
As we mark 25 years, HITS stays rooted in its founding belief – that communication is the foundation of stronger, more connected communities, and that business can be a force for good.

So next time you enjoy a pint of Ossett Brewery’s Silver King, know you’re also supporting a legacy that’s been changing lives in Dacorum for a quarter of a century.

Looking for a trusted partner for interpreting and translation?

Get in touch with us at interpreting@communityactiondacorum.org.uk

Working with HITS means more than accessing a professional language service — it means helping fund vital work in our community.
Learn more about our impact: www.communityactiondacorum.org
To access interpretation and translation services in over 300 languages, including BSL, visit www.hertsinterpreting.org