The FESPA Foundation will once again demonstrate how the industry can drive meaningful, lasting social impact, as the global print, signage, packaging, textile and wrapping communities gather for four days of innovation, collaboration and business development.

FESPA Global Print Expo 2026 returns to the Gran Via, Fira de Barcelona, Spain, from 19–22 May 2026, alongside European Sign Expo, Personalisation Experience, WrapFest and the brand-new Corrugated and Textile.

The FESPA Foundation is set to be present throughout the event, inviting visitors, exhibitors and partners to contribute to its ongoing mission: supporting schools in underserved communities around the world. The FESPA Foundation’s presence at the show will offer a tangible connection between the creativity and capability on display across the exhibition floor and the real-world educational environments that benefit from industry support.

The FESPA Foundation was launched in 2025 as a global initiative dedicated to transforming the speciality print and visual communications industry through sustainable practices, community support, and educational outreach. Since its initial launch, the initiative has actively supported five schools, operating under the strapline ‘Print for Good’.

It has also empowered communities and created lasting impact through the power of print. Through its initiatives, the FESPA Foundation continues to use its donations, comprising printed materials, equipment and funding, to support schools by helping them to improve learning conditions and improve access to education.

The FESPA Foundation would like to thank its many sponsors and donors, whose continued commitment has made its achievements over the last year possible. This year, a number of exhibitors at FESPA 2026 will produce assets live at the show. Donated items will include books, pencils, t-shirts and other garments, educational posters and a range of community-focused resources, to be distributed to the FESPA Foundation’s partner schools.

Sponsors and partners for this year include: DSV, Durst, FESPA Netherlands Association, Messe Frankfurt South Africa and Summa, whose support reinforces the power of print to make a difference.

Building on the success of last year’s donations in Berlin, the FESPA Foundation has launched a new campaign for 2026, titled ‘Back to School’. The campaign will focus on items for children who are starting or returning to school after the holidays. Arlon, Brother, Canon, Digidelta, Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems, Mimaki and Roland are amongst the donors for the new initiative.

Neil Felton, FESPA CEO, commented, ‘We’re delighted to welcome the FESPA Foundation alongside our flagship event once again this year. It’s incredibly rewarding to see our global community come together to create meaningful impact and to truly demonstrate print for good. By bringing together sustainability, education and community support, we’re helping to transform hundreds of lives and reach those who need it most, while empowering individuals with the skills, resources and opportunities to build brighter, more sustainable futures. Together, with our incredible community of visitors, exhibitors and partners, we’re proving that our industry can be a force for lasting, positive change, well beyond the printed page.’

At FESPA 2026, visitors will have the opportunity to support the FESPA Foundation through both materialistic and monetary donations.

To found out more about how to get involved with the FESPA Foundation, click here.

FESPA FOUNDATION
https://www.fespa.com/en/about/fespa-foundation/

The FESPA Foundation and Messe Frankfurt visited Madisei Primary School in Polokwane for a two week Print for Good outreach, from 2-12 February. They aimed to create a brighter future through education by renovating and furnishing a library, transforming classrooms and donating art supplies.

The Messe Frankfurt South Africa, a trade fair, congress and events organiser, initiated a pilot project at the Madisei Primary School as part of the FESPA Foundation’s Adopt a School programme, which connects corporate partners with schools in need.

While the Foundation’s Print for Good initiative provides printed educational materials, Adopt a School goes one step further by building partnerships to tackle urgent needs like safe classrooms, reliable infrastructure, working libraries and food security.

The Messe Frankfurt South Africa, in partnership with the FESPA Foundation team, handed over some of the generously donated books, opening the door to imagination, learning and opportunity for every learner. The Foundation requests donations of more books for the refurbished library from anyone who is willing to help. The school library will also be open to the entire community once the project completed. Classrooms were also transformed with fresh paint and new tiling, creating a more welcoming and inspiring environment for students and teachers.

Fabio Palma, Group Creative Director at Messe Frankfurt and Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose, Executive Director at FESPA Foundation.

‘To be able to share some of our experience with the rest of the beautiful children that we met is super amazing,’ commented Jessica Nhleko, Outbound Sales Manager at Messe Frankfurt South Africa.

‘We had the honour and privilege of hosting Messe Frankfurt as the company that has adopted one of our schools under our Adopt a School programme. We are delighted at what has been achieved at the school under this programme, and thank them. We would like to invite other exhibition companies over and above the companies in the printing industry to join us and adopt a school, or adopt a building of a classroom at a particular school, and help us enrich the lives of those who are less privileged,’ said Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose, Executive Director at The FESPA Foundation.

‘We believe that the lives of these students will change and that they will be given a better learning experience,’ said Peter Sekolong, Principal of Madisei Primary School.

The FESPA Foundation’s partnership with Messe Frankfurt South Africa is part of an initiative to inspire more exhibition companies to donate excess supplies and printed materials from their events and expos to the FESPA Foundation’s supported and adopted schools.

Exhibition companies are often left with excess products and materials after shows. The donation of excess exhibition show products from the print, beauty, consumer goods and technology industries could expand the campaign from just ‘Print for Good’ to ‘Beauty for Good,’ ‘Art for Good,’ and ‘Tech for Good’ etc.

FESPA FOUNDATION
https://www.fespa.com/

FESPA, Durst Group, Midcomp and Practical Publishing attended the launch of a school support initiative at Malekapane Primary School in Limpopo on Monday, 19 January 2026. Representatives of Durst and Midcomp had the opportunity to see how their support for the FESPA Foundation’s ‘Adopt a School’ and ‘Print For Good’ initiatives have benefitted the school.

Christoph Gamper, CEO at Durst Group, Christian Harder, Chief Sales Officer at Durst Group, and Rob Makinson, CEO at Midcomp, joined Neil Felton, CEO at FESPA and Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose, FESPA Foundation’s Africa Coordinator, at Malekapane Primary School to break ground on building projects, planting trees and evaluating what learning materials are needed in the classrooms.

Practical Publishing participated in the day and also assists the foundation with printed matter, donated shirts and does all the artwork needed for print for this school. ‘Practical Publishing is proud to be associated with the FESPA Foundation as one of the founding partners and sponsors of their activities,’ said Dyelan Copeland, Director at Practical Publishing. ‘We get involved with all their projects in South Africa both with sponsoring items that are needed and with design and compilation of printed education collateral used at the schools. As a media partner we have been on the ground visiting a few schools to assist with whats needed where possible. Well done to Durst in adopting Malakapane School and to the FESPA Foundation especially Neil Felton and Steve Thobela and teams for their courageous work.’

The FESPA Foundation’s Adopt a School programme connects corporate print partners with schools in need. While the Foundation’s ‘Print for Good’ initiative provides printed educational materials, Adopt a School goes one step further by building partnerships to tackle urgent needs like safe classrooms, reliable infrastructure, working libraries and food security.

Durst and Midcomp representatives got the chance to see the work already completed on the school, such as the new ceilings that have been fitted in the classrooms. While on a tour of the school, they also got to scope out which printed educational materials could be produced to decorate the classrooms and arm students for greater learning. The representatives also met with the heads of the school to discuss other potential projects that will increase the quality of life for the students.

Malekapane Primary School hosted a special assembly for the event, bringing together community leadership, members of the local municipality, parents, teachers and students to show their gratitude towards the FESPA Foundation and its school sponsors.

Durst was the first to join the FESPA Foundations ‘Adopt A School’ initiative by sponsoring Malekapane Primary School. Through the help of their sole distributor for Durst Group AG printing technology in South Africa, Midcomp, Durst seeks to support the school even further.

FESPA FOUNDATION
www.fespa.com/en/about/fespa-foundation/

DURST GROUP
www.durst-group.com

MIDCOMP
midcomp.co.za

The FESPA Foundation galvanises exhibiting companies at its exhibitions to produce printed educational resources for schools across South Africa and other underserved communities. FESPA CEO, Neil Felton, has been awarded with the 2025 Girls Who Print Ally Award for his leadership of the FESPA Foundation, an initiative that was launched last year to demonstrate ‘Print For Good’.

The Girls Who Print Ally Award recognises Felton for leveraging the power of print to create a positive impact and safer learning environments in underserved communities – all while inspiring the global print community.

Led by Deborah Corn, Girls Who Print (GWP) is a non-profit organisation that supports the advancement of female careers in the print and graphic communications industries.

FESPA partnered with Girls Who Print – to highlight its support of the organisation and diversity across print – at FESPA Global Print Expo 2025, in May, at the Messe Berlin, Germany. During the event, GWP led a series of speaker sessions at the SmartHub conference, as well as a lunch.

Neil Felton, CEO, FESPA said, ‘I’m truly honoured to receive the 2025 Girls Who Print Ally Award. We (the FESPA team) were delighted to initiate a partnership with Corn, and to us, this is just the beginning. Girls Who Print is a truly inspirational organisation and we look forward to seeing what is in store for our relationship in the future. This is more than just an award, it’s global recognition for the FESPA Foundation and I am proud to be accepting this on behalf of everyone who has supported us on our journey. Thank you.’

Deborah Corn, Executive Director of Girls Who Print, commented, ‘Our mission to support women in print throughout their careers will continue in 2026. The ARC and Print University strengthen this mission by expanding our access to experts, education, skill building, mentorship, and professional development. Membership and sponsorship contributions are essential to powering our mission, expanding our offerings, and strengthening our global community. We deeply appreciate the companies that support our work and look forward to welcoming many more in the coming year.’

FESPA FOUNDATION
https://www.fespa.com/en/about/fespa-foundation/

FESPA Africa and Sign Africa expo organisers, Practical Publishing, have donated a trailer to the FESPA Foundation. The trailer will enable the efficient delivery of supplies to the beneficiary schools within Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal that the Foundation supports.

‘We are proud to align ourselves with the incredible work done by the FESPA Foundation,’ said Charnia Yapp, publisher at Practical Publishing. ‘Our support, including the sponsorship of the trailer, will help ensure that Print for Good reaches rural schools where these resources can make a meaningful difference.’

’Thank you to Practical Publishing for their generous donation of a trailer to support the work of the Foundation,’ said Steve Thobela kaMdlalose, team leader at FESPA Foundation.

The foundation warmly invites those in the print industry to join them in transforming the lives of children in under-resourced schools by becoming partners.

Those who still wish to support the organisation can help by:

– Donating, books, notebooks, pens, art kits, reading glasses or school supplies, which will be delivered to schools in need.

– Donating funds towards additional printed materials, such as banners or instructional guides to support local initiatives and community programmes.

– Cash donations are most welcome to help the Foundation purchase items such as a bakkie that is required to transport items to the schools, items for renovations and to support the work of the Foundation.

For more details and how to donate, please visit the Foundation’s website.

FESPA FOUNDATION
https://www.fespa.com/en/about/fespa-foundation/

The FESPA Foundation, guided by ‘Print For Good’ is dedicated to transforming the specialty print and visual communications industry through sustainable practices, community supply and educational outreach.

The FESPA Foundation, (NPC) Registration number 2025/698380/08, is kindly requesting cash donations to help purchase a bakkie that is required to transport items to various under-resourced schools, many of which are located in remote areas.

For those companies who would like to show their support and have their logo included on the FESPA Foundation vehicle, there is a branding opportunity available for R25000. FESPA Foundation will guarantee three years exposure and issue a Section 18A certificate.

The FESPA Foundation is currently helping to uplift these 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 two hour drive from Pretoria on Moloto Road towards Marble Hall.

Phase two will entail working with another charity organisation based in Malawi to build a school there. Phase three entails a similar approach as that in South Africa where the FESPA Foundation will support schools in Tanzania and Kenya.

The FESPA Foundation aims to positively impact lives in sub-Saharan Africa by providing printed materials for early childhood development. The Foundation exists to combine waste reduction efforts with meaningful impact for young people living in challenging circumstances. The initiative was founded in October last year by FESPA CEO, Neil Felton.

The Foundation is currently headed by team leader Steve Thobela ka Mdlalose. He is an experienced print business executive with knowledge of running non-governmental organisations (NGOs), having served as the CEO of Printing SA, and managed one of the Nelson Mandela charity organisations.

For more details and how to donate financially please visit the Foundation’s website. Alternatively please refer to the below banking details.

Account name: FESPA FOUNDATION NPC
Account number: 63173563199
Branch code: 255355

FESPA FOUNDATION
steve.thobela@Fespa.com
https://www.fespa.com/en/about/fespa-foundation/