Wotan Wilke Möhring for skate-aid at the telethon 

"RTL - Wir helfen Kindern" (We help children) godfather Wotan Wilke Möhring: "Children have no lobby in our society. But children are our future, we must strengthen them!"

Kölnberg is a dreary, run-down high-rise complex in the Meschenich district, one of Cologne's biggest social hotspots. In the middle of the high-rise canyons, unexpectedly loud kids's laughter can be heard. On an old tennis court, numerous children and young people skate around with their boards. In the middle of it all: Wotan Wilke Möhring. The actor is visiting as a friend of skateboarding pioneer Titus Dittmann and as a godfather for "RTL - Wir helfen Kindern" (We help children). Together with Titus, he provides advice and support to the smallest and most inexperienced skaters. The father of three, who has been involved with skate-aid for many years, supports the enthusiastic kids with all his body. Otherwise, the children and young people hardly have any opportunities to actively spend their free time: Playing video games or hanging around at home or on the street is usually on the agenda for the Kölnberg kids. That’s about to change. Together with skate-aid and "RTL - Wir helfen Kindern" (We help children), Wotan Wilke Möhring is working to ensure that socially disadvantaged children are sustainably supported and strengthened through skateboard workshops and not just at Kölnberg.

"Fall down and get up again! The most important thing about these workshops is that the kids not only have fun here, but also unconsciously change positively on many levels. Through learning together and the resulting successes, they become more self-confident. Instead of playing with their smartphones, they can actively participate with their whole bodies. Instead of just being sprinkled, they are successfully active here themselves," explains Wotan Wilke Möhring, who has been supporting Titus Dittmann's commitment for 15 years. "The children have grown up in this living environment and feel on a daily basis that they are on the fringes of society. Through the experience with the Skateboards, you give them here subliminally more strength on their way through life. They can then apply and exploit this strength at completely different points in their lives. They learn: I can achieve something under my own steam. Riding a skateboard is relatively easy to learn, first successes come quickly. The children don't have to struggle forever but have accomplished something in the evening that they weren't able to do in the morning. Experiences like that motivate and help."

To ensure that even more children and young people are empowered at five other locations in Germany, Wotan Wilke Möhring is calling for donations as a project sponsor for "RTL - Wir helfen Kindern"(We help children): "Children have no lobby in our society. But children are our future and we need to strengthen them - so please help and donate!"  At the 26th RTL telethon on November 18 and 19, donations will also be collected for Wotan Wilke Möhring's "skate-aid" project, and the actor will personally ask for support for his heartfelt project.

Background

In Germany, every fifth child grows up in poverty, that’s over 2.8 million children and young people nationwide. Children from poor families are disadvantaged and excluded in many ways. In addition to the lack of material things, they often lack attention, upbringing and education. Many children have no caregivers who have regular jobs. The children have few educational opportunities: they find it difficult to persevere in school or training because they cannot concentrate in class and more often drop out of school. Socially disadvantaged children are also more likely to have health problems - caused by poor and unhealthy nutrition and lack of exercise.

Through educational skateboarding workshops directly in social hotspots, the children and young people are to build up their personalities in their own individual way through self-determined learning. Containers are to be set up at a total of five locations in Germany as a contact point for educational skateboarding. The locations are in social hotspots and are supervised by trained personnel. Here, children can learn to skateboard in a self-determined way and free of charge.

That’s our mission: We empower kids