Pyjama Foundation needs Geelong volunteers

THE Pyjama Foundation is seeking Pyjama Angel volunteers to help make a difference in the lives of children in care within Geelong.

The foundation exists to provide children and young people in foster care the opportunity to change their lives with learning, life skills and confidence.

This is done through the Love of Learning program, with the help of Pyjama Angel volunteers who donate their time once a week.

Suzi Williamson became a Pyjama Angel in Geelong three years ago and spends one hour a week with the child she was paired with.

“He was 12 when I matched with him and he was performing quite well in school, was really engaged with education. He was doing really well,” she said.

“The thing that was most useful for him was more socialisation.

“What we do every week is I go over, we have dinner together as a family with his carers and then they leave the room and we just chat about everything going on in his life and in school.”

Depending on the age of the child and what their needs are will shape the types of activities volunteers do with them.

Some angels will spend their time working on literacy or numeracy skills, health and fitness, motor skills, building a sense of self and self-awareness and more.

All volunteers are screened, trained and matched with a child in out of home care, focused on completing learning-based activities in a non-formal setting.

Ms Williamson joined the program after a presentation in her work place about foster care, where the Pyjama Foundation was mentioned as an option for those who only had an hour to spare.

At a stage in her life where she was not able to offer foster care, she was able to give an hour a week of her time to the program.

Ms Williamson said she got a lot of fulfilment and a sense of community out of volunteering her time.

“The input of what you need to put in, in terms of the time and effort is so much outweighed by what you get from it.

“Seeing the impact you’re having on the kids, on their families, on their carers, it really is such a small thing to do but the impact is so much greater than the effort.”

For more information on volunteering, head to thepyjamafoundation.com