Bronwyn Sheehan
Bronwyn Sheehan founded The Pyjama Foundation in 2004 to make a positive impact on the lives of our community’s most vulnerable children. In less than five years, The Pyjama Foundation has won a number of awards, garnered corporate and government support, and inspired a large team of community volunteers.
A nurse and midwife and business owner, Bronwyn herself was inspired by the work of foster carers. She said people think that when a child is moved into foster care they are suddenly OK, but this is not the case. They require a great deal of support to overcome emotional, physical and developmental issues. Bronwyn was alarmed at statistics highlighting the poor literacy levels of children in care, and determined to find a way to address this issue. This was the beginning of The Pyjama Foundation Love of Learning Program.
The Pyjama Foundation recruits, screens, trains and supports volunteers from the community who are called Pyjama Angels. Pyjama Angels are matched with a child in care and visit them once a week for an hour to read books aloud, play educational games and help them with their homework. While the program focuses on literacy skills, the Pyjama Angels have become inspiring role models for the children.
Bronwyn Sheehan is the 2009 Queensland Australian of the Year and 2008 Queensland Winner of the IBM Community and Government category of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards. In 2010 Bronwyn was a finalist in the Suncorp Queenslander of the Year awards.