Exhibitors and visitors at the Sign Africa and FESPA Africa Johannesburg Expo, taking place from 9–11 September 2025 (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) at the Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg, can help assist with the FESPA Foundation. The FESPA Foundation, guided by ‘Print For Good’ is a global initiative dedicated to transforming the specialty print and visual communications industry through sustainable practices, community supply and educational outreach.
The FESPA Foundation aims to positively impact lives in sub-Saharan Africa by providing printed materials for early child development. The FESPA Foundation exists to combine waste reduction efforts with meaningful impact for young people living in challenging circumstances. By enriching their learning environments, we aim to establish a strong foundation for their lives.
How You Can Help
There are many ways you ca help the foundation. These include:
– Pledging to produce items to enrich educational opportunities.
– Bring items to a show to donate such as reading glasses, notebooks, pens, art kits or school supplies.
– Make a cash donation to fund the purchase of mosquito nets, clean-water drinking straws and more.
The Foundation exists to combine waste reduction efforts with meaningful impact for young people living in challenging circumstances. By enriching their learning environments, the FESPA Foundation aim to establish a strong foundation for their lives.
Click here to donate.
Exhibitors
Maximise the impact of your print output during the show. Participate in the ‘Print for Good’ initiative by producing items (i.e. maps, T-shirts, backpacks) to enrich educational opportunities.
Recognising the environmental challenges associated with large-scale events, the Foundation is leading an innovative project to repurpose print samples produced during the event. Instead of contributing to waste, these samples will serve meaningful purposes, such as:
– Educational posters: high-quality print samples will be delivered to schools in need, providing visual aids and resources for classrooms.
– Student clothing: T-shirts and other wearable items will be produced for underserved schools, offering practical benefits while demonstrating the versatility of print technology.
– Community resources: additional printed materials, such as banners or instructional guides, will be distributed to support local initiatives and community programmes.
Visitors
FESPA Foundation transforms the creativity and innovation of the print industry into tangible, life-changing impacts for communities in need.
The FESPA Foundation’s ‘Print For Good’ initiative represents a bold vision for the future of the print industry. By aligning sustainability, education, and community support, the Foundation is creating a powerful platform for change. As it expands its reach to South America, India, and Asia, and strengthens collaborations in Sub-Saharan Africa, the FESPA Foundation is poised to leave a lasting, positive impact on the global print community and beyond.
How can you support these efforts?
Bring to the show: reading glasses, notebooks, pens, art kits or school supplies to donate.
Cash donations: fund the purchase of mosquito nets, clean-water drinking straws, or reading glasses to support health and well-being.
FESPA Foundation Creates A Brighter Future For Limpopo Primary School
The FESPA Foundation has made several visits to Malekapane Primary School in Limpopo, where they have identified various challenges faced, and how the foundation can help with these. According to FESPA Foundation team leader, Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose, schools like Malekapane are often disadvantaged and underdeveloped. ‘This is where FESPA Foundation comes in,’ he said.
Founded in October last year by FESPA CEO Neil Felton, the FESPA Foundation addresses two key goals: repurposing exhibition materials that would otherwise go to waste; and supporting education in rural communities by giving young learners better opportunities through access to improved resources.
Malekapane Primary School has 97 learners, and nine staff members, including the principal. Only six are actual teaching staff, of which two of them are not on the official payroll as they are volunteers.
The school principal has outlined some of the challenges she has had to deal with since coming to this school, namely ageing infrastructure.
The building’s roof has no form of insulation, and the temperature in this area can go up to 42°C. The ‘kitchen’ is built with mud and stones. The principal has a project to produce some bricks to rebuild a new kitchen but currently the gas stove is on the floor, and is dangerous to children and staff.
Although there has been much talk in government about eradicating pit toilets, these toilets still exist in the school.
‘The FESPA Foundation is giving moral support to the management team of the schools we assist, especially the principals,’ said Thobela ka Mdlalose. ‘We listen to them, and understand their challenges and how they would like us to assist. We give advice and offer to rally the governing body and the rest of the community to support the school.’
‘The School Governing Body (SGB) and the community at large are encouraged by the presence of the Foundation. It brings hope and they are then more willing to contribute. We only then give financial support, buy all the necessities and help with project management and administration. In this case, the financial contribution to Malekapane Primary School was R5000.’
‘We will now be taking all the printed materials from the recent FESPA expo, held in Germany in May, to the school. We also continue to raise funds to build the kitchen and would appreciate the industry’s assistance. The idea is that this is not a once-off thing. We build a permanent relationship with the school, hence the programme where we ask larger companies in the industry to adopt the school for ongoing support.’
The Macheme primary school in another village in Limpopo has been shut down, and children are ferried every morning to a different village to be educated.
‘Other than Macheme, we are busy building toilets at Evane Combine school, which was also our pilot project. We have selected three more schools: Pitseng ya Thuto Primary School, Madesei Primary School and Batau Primary School.’
To contribute to helping these schools, please contact Steve Thobela: +27 79 502 7995 or steve.thobela@fespa.com. Click here for more information about The FESPA Foundation.
FESPA Foundation And Partners Make A Difference For Mandela Day
The FESPA Foundation’s Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose and his team, along with Printing SA’s Abisha Katerere and Jermaine Naicker, and Sign Wonder’s Justin Robert and his team, were at Batau Primary School on 18 July to do their part for Mandela Day.
Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose (far right).
Batau Primary School is one of the schools selected by the FESPA Foundation, an initiative repurposing exhibition materials that would otherwise go to waste, and supporting education in rural communities by giving young learners better opportunities through access to improved resources. The initiative was founded in October last year by FESPA CEO, Neil Felton.
The FESPA Foundation warmly invites those in the print industry to join them in transforming the lives of children in under-resourced schools.
The FESPA Foundation is calling for volunteers to get involved in uplifting one of its five partner schools:
– Evane Combine School in Dlomodlomo (approx. 100km from Vryheid).
– Malekapane Primary School in Limpopo (30km from Lebowakgomo).
– Pitseng ya Thuto Primary School near Lebowakgomo.
– Madesei Primary School near Lebowakgomo.
– Batau Primary School, approximately a 2-hour drive on Moloto Road towards Marble Hall.
FESPA FOUNDATION
https://www.fespa.com/en/about/fespa-foundation/
