LawCare seeks people for "emotional health" focus group

LawCare, the charity that supports lawyers' mental health and wellbeing, is celebrating the award of a £7,000 grant from the Wesleyan Foundation as it announces a new initiative to support emotional health in the legal profession.

The award follows an online poll held before Christmas in which the size of the vote determined the size of the grant, in a range of £5,000-£8,000. LawCare is very grateful to all who supported its bid.

The charity is now collaborating with the Open University to develop online educational materials for lawyers about their emotional health. This will involve preparing and piloting a suite of resources addressing issues which are common to all sectors of the legal profession, and a toolkit for employers and professional bodies to assist in promoting workplace and organisational cultural change in a way which enhances individual wellbeing.

Data and feedback on the use of these resources will be collected to inform the development of further materials in accordance with the needs of the profession as a whole and/or particular sectors.

LawCare hopes to have the input of the legal community to ensure these resources meet its needs, through focus groups facilitated by the Open University in each of the four UK jurisdictions. The Scottish one will be held on Monday 12 February from 4-6pm at the Open University in Scotland, 10 Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh EH3 7QJ. If you are a legal professional at any stage of your career, LawCare would be really pleased to have you participate: please email Anna Buttimore at Anna.Buttimore@lawcare.org.uk to register your place.

Other groups will take place on Tuesday 6 February in London, Thursday 8 February in Belfast and Friday 16 February in Cardiff. The same contact email applies.