Who we are

Founded in 1990 by Dr Tony Holmes, the Jigsaw Foundation consists of nine voluntary Directors, one administrative employee and hundreds of wonderful supporters.

We are a donor funded, not-for-profit organisation that exists to further research and education in the area of paediatric craniofacial surgery.

What We Do

The Jigsaw Foundation predominantly supports the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne. Our past support has included the acquisition of 3D medical imaging equipment which helps to detect facial deformity of babies in utero, we have financially supported several surgeons while they learn to specialise in this area of expertise and we have also financially supported international surgeons training in paediatric craniofacial surgery at the RCH in Melbourne.

While we could bring individual children to Australia to be treated, Jigsaw has chosen to invest in bringing surgeons to Melbourne for training. Once the surgeon has been trained or up-skilled in this speciality, the surgeon can then return to their own communities, both within Australia and overseas, where they can help hundreds or potentially thousands of children throughout their career.

Most recently, we have established the Jigsaw Foundation Chair of Paediatric Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery through Melbourne University. This position provides a Professor and several PhD students who will dedicate themselves to further the research and surgical outcomes for paediatric craniofacial surgery. We believe this to be a world first position.

Why?

The question of Why do we do this is the hardest one to make brief.

We do this for the children - to build faces and change lives.

Essentially, we do this because we know that children born with facial disfigurement are more prone to self-esteem issues, which can lead to a lonely and traumatic life.

In the words of David Chong, who is a craniofacial surgeon at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne:

“None of us deserve how we look, for good or for bad. The Jigsaw Foundation brings hope to those with a facial difference to face the world with a smile”.

It’s all about the smile on a child’s face and being able to refine our knowledge, improve our surgical skills and send each facially afflicted child out into the world with confidence.

The RCH in Melbourne is a world-class facility with world-class surgeons. Furthering research and education in this area of expertise could lead to early diagnosis and increased understanding of the causes of children born with facial afflictions, improved surgical procedures and better long term quality of life for the patient. What we can achieve for our children with facial afflictions is immeasurable.

That’s why we do this.