Volunteers, known as Pyjama Angels, work with children across all care groups, including kinship, foster, permanent and residential, to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes as part of the foundation’s Love of Learning program.

Victorian manager Shannon O’Brien said school could often be overwhelming for children in care, especially if they had changed schools multiple times and were faced with new peer groups. Heightened emotions also meant children might not learn at their peak. 

She said 92 per cent of the 51,000 children in care across Australia had below average reading skills by the time they were seven years old, while 75 per cent of children would not complete their high school education.

“What we are doing is sending volunteers known as Pyjama Angels out to the kids, who then go to their homes for an hour a week to work on anything fun and educational,” she said.

“The amount of requests that have come through from Ballarat in the five years that I’ve been here in Melbourne has been huge – requests from case workers, requests from carers, requests from volunteers to join the program.

“Just knowing that the numbers of children in care are large in that area, we just want to give them someone to support them.” 

The Pyjama Foundation held its first training session for volunteers in Ballarat on Sunday and will be looking to place the new angels with families in the next two weeks before the Christmas break. They will begin their sessions in January. 

The foundation’s first regional training in Daylesford in June attracted three Ballarat volunteers who are now paired up with local children. 

Ms O’Brien said Pyjama Angels came from all walks of life, including hairdressers, business owners, school students, doctors and even the elderly. But past and present teachers in particular were drawn to the program because of their skills. 

“I really want to concentrate on Ballarat until I feel like the program is ticking along and that momentum is there,” Ms O’Brien said. 

The next training session for Ballarat will be held in April. Those interested in volunteering for the Love of Learning program can apply online by visiting thepyjamafoundation.com.