PUT ON YOUR WINGS AND PYJAMAS FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Child Safety Minister Margaret Keech is urging Queenslanders to pull on their pyjamas and become an Angel to help improve the literacy levels of children in care.

Mrs Keech today opened the Pyjama Foundation’s Love of Learning Program fundraiser and encouraged others to consider taking part in this vital support service for Queensland’s child protection system.

“By either donating a small amount of your time or money you can make a significant difference to the lives our society’s most vulnerable,” Mrs Keech said.

“The volunteers, known as Pyjama Angels read each week to 420 children in the care of the department.

“These Angels spend an hour each week playing educational games with each child in the Program to improve their reading, vocabulary, listening and concentration skills.

“These wonderful Angels aim to read 1000 books to each child in care before they start school to develop a solid reading foundation for teachers to build on.”

Mrs Keech said the skills Pyjama Angels were giving to children and young people were those we all often took for granted.

“It is painfully clear to me how incredibly disadvantaged the children and young people who come into the department’s care often are,” she said.

“Not only have these children and young people been harmed or put at risk of harm in their own homes, but their cognitive development and social skills have often been interrupted or delayed by their experiences.

“Tragically, many of the children we see have not had the right start to their education, but the volunteers at the Pyjama Foundation work hard to turn the tables for them and give them a brighter future.

“Bronwyn Sheehan started this volunteer-run organisation two and a half years ago with a simple but noble quest: to provide reading skills to some of the most disadvantaged children in our community, to excite children about reading and to inspire a love of learning.”

The Department of Child Safety and the Department of Education, Training and the Arts provide $100,000 a year in joint funding to support the Love of Learning Program.

Media contact: Jo Crompton 3224 7081