All too often our profession fails to trumpet the good things we do. A fine example of worthwhile activity is the splendid, generous work of the trustees of the Law Society Charity.

Since its foundation in 1974, the charity has quietly made well over 1,000 donations to good causes including Reprieve, the Roma Support Group, the Environmental Law Foundation, the Rift Valley Newcastle Justice Project (promoting access to justice in Kenya) and LawCare. The impact it has made has been enormous and yet largely unheralded.

Now, its operation is to be substantially scaled down and I would like to take this opportunity to record the grateful thanks of all its beneficiaries for the generous help it has given. The effect of its assistance has rippled beyond the strict confines of the legal world by helping families and others connected with our profession.

As chairman of LawCare I can record our enduring gratitude for the help we have received from the Law Society Charity since our foundation in 1997. Over our relatively short lifespan we have helped some 4,300 distressed lawyers, and their families and business colleagues, on our helpline, and reached a further 33,000 through our training and presence at events. Our website receives an average 586 hits a day, lasting about seven minutes each.

On many occasions, the assistance we have been able to provide to those afflicted by the curses of drug or alcohol dependency, or the debilitating effect of stress in their lives, has avoided personal and practice tragedies and the wider ramifications they entail.

Without the support of the Law Society Charity we simply could not have achieved such worthwhile results, so I offer a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the charity and its trustees for all their hard work and the fine example of valuable, well-targeted giving they have demonstrated over so many years.

Paul Venton, chairman, LawCare