Louise Piper Pays Tribute to Lord Joel Joffe

All of us at Haller are saddened to hear of the death of Lord Joel Joffe. All of the 50,000 community members we’ve worked with owe the progress they have been able to make to his courage and commitment to improving the lives of those less fortunate. His work in championing ‘assisted dying’, promoting payroll giving and the work of his foundation, where he donated a large proportion of his income, have benefitted so many and he leaves a powerful legacy.

The Joffe Charitable Trust gave Haller its first grant. I went to meet him at his home in Wiltshire and talked about what we hope to achieve in East Africa – namely promoting a model for economic development that was sustainable and environmentally sound. He was prepared to back the idea and gave us our first grant. The backing from Lord Joffe with his sound business and legal skills gave us the confidence and funding to take the organisation to the stage it is today.

The African proverb ‘the mark of a life well lived is to plant trees under whose shade you may never sit’ is a fitting tribute to him.

Louise Piper