How can a former German soccer star, his charitable foundation and a floor covering trade fair work together to make a real and lasting difference? One answer is "with artificial turf", as Franz Reinkemeier GmbH, one of Germany's leading artificial turf specialists, is actively supporting the Christoph Metzelder Foundation to help give children from disadvantaged backgrounds a better start in life. At DOMOTEX 2019 in Hannover, retired soccer player Christoph Metzelder is promoting his foundation and the specific projects it carries out. First and foremost, however, he will be speaking about the urgent need to support children living on or below the poverty line at the earliest opportunity.

This year's trade fair provides the perfect setting for such an important discussion, particularly in view of its motto "CREATE'N'CONNECT", which links to the question of how we will live and work in the future. "Our actions today create the society of tomorrow. To ensure we can all make our mark, regardless of our social background, it's important we start turning our attention to the weakest members of society and prepare them for a bright future," says the foundation’s creator.

Bernhard Reinkemeier, co-owner of Franz Reinkemeier GmbH, explains why artificial turf is the ideal product to support the foundation: "Artificial turf today is soft, high-quality and bright green - and is currently experiencing a huge boom. We are harnessing this trend for the greater good. The Christoph Metzelder Foundation does fantastic work and, from our point of view, is doing exactly what's needed!" Metzelder adds: "If we are to carry on and expand our project work, we need money, and a lot of our funding comes from donations. Collaborations such as the one with Franz Reinkemeier GmbH are a massive help to us. So we are looking forward to meeting lots of visitors at DOMOTEX - the more the better!"