2009
Queensland Australian of the Year Bronwyn Sheehan founded The
Pyjama Foundation in 2004 to make a positive impact on the lives
of our community’s most vulnerable children.
The
Pyjama Foundation is honoured to have the support of our
community to inspire a love of learning... read about our
Patron, Bryce Courtenay and our wonderful team of Reading
Ambassadors and supporters
The Pyjama Foundation is a children’s charity that is breaking the cycle of disadvantage experienced by Australian children in foster care.
The Pyjama Foundation recruits, screens, trains and supports Pyjama Angels - volunteer members of the community who work with the children and support our true heroes - Australia’s foster families.
Pyjama Angels deliver The Pyjama Foundation Love of Learning Program®, a learning-based mentoring program which addresses statistics around children in care
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92% of children in care are below the average reading level at age seven[1]
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75% of these children do not complete schooling
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50% of the homeless come from a care background
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35% enter the juvenile justice system at some point (82% of Australian prisoners have below grade 4 level of functional literacy)
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28% of care-leavers are parents within 12 months of leaving care
There are more than 37,000 children in care in Australia, a figure which doubled in the last decade. Indigenous children are vastly over-represented.
Research shows that any improvement in literacy and numeracy skills will have a positive impact on a person’s life.
Since inception in 2004, the organisation and its founder have inspired more than 1000 members of our community to become volunteer Pyjama Angels, visiting a child in care each week to read books, play games, and engage in other fun, learning-based activities.
From an initial base in Brisbane, The Pyjama Foundation has expanded to Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Logan, Gold Coast, and Sydney.