A live auction and raffle, featuring prizes including a Mercedes-Benz (for a weekend), a coffee machine, accommodation vouchers for NSW hotels and a Fitness First membership, will take place during the ball.

All profits raised will be donated to the Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation, which addresses depression and anxiety in the legal profession.

President of NSW Young Lawyers, Heidi Fairhall, said this year’s chosen charity was close to the organisation’s heart.

“We’ve got a mental health website that is going really well; we get a lot of comments and support. People are really keen to hear stories from others who have been through issues with mental health in the profession,” Fairhall told Lawyers Weekly.

NSW Young Lawyers recently set up a mental health working group, which is currently looking at expanding the website and putting up more testimonials, said Fairhall.

“We’ve also got a mentoring program and at the moment we’re looking at piloting a mental health program in regional and rural areas,” she said.

Charities the ball has supported in the past include OzHarvest, Royal Flying Doctors Services, Fred Hollows Foundation and Starlight Foundation.

The event is supported and attended by young professionals of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia; Young Agents - Real Estate Institute of NSW; Australian Human Resources Institute; Sydney Young Professionals; Young Energy Professionals - Australian Institute of Energy; Young Planners - Planning Institute of Australia, and GenXt - Association of Financial Advisers.

“The whole focus of NSW Young Lawyers is to provide people with the opportunity to engage with other lawyers in a non-combative environment, away from their firms and their work, and in a way they feel relaxed and stable and supported in the law because it can be quite an isolating profession,” said Fairhall, who is currently on maternity leave from Ashurst.

For more information and to purchase tickets to the ball, click the image below: