The Spirit of Play Foundation brings joy to the Ruhr region

The Spielwarenmesse, through its Spirit of Play Foundation, teamed up with Merz Verlag, organiser of SPIEL Essen, to organise a special donation at the end of the year. Together with various SPIEL exhibitors, lots of board games were collected and donated just before Christmas. The donation was handed over to the Association for Child and Youth Work in Social Hotspots in the Ruhr Area (VKJ) at the Karnaper Markt youth café " JuCaKa" in Essen.

For over 40 years, the VKJ has been committed to helping children, young people and their families in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the Ruhr area. The games provided brought smiles to many faces. "Games promote creativity, team spirit and social skills. They are the best school of life," said Carol Rapp, managing director of Merz Verlag, after the personal handover. As part of the campaign, Merz Verlag is underlining its commitment to the topics of "play as a basic need" and "play as a cultural asset" and is making an important contribution to child development. These two aspects in particular form the basis for sustainable support and social cohesion.

The last donation of the year marks the end of a successful year for the Spirit of Play Foundation. In addition to children in Germany, young people in Brazil and India were also reached and supported with toy donations.