Milan Home handed over under the sign of liberation
On the occasion of the start of the school year when Milan Accueil shows itself in effervescence to welcome new arrivals in the Lombard capital, meeting with Florence Desgeans, re-elected president of the association for a third mandate which she qualifies as “liberated”.
Re-elected president of Milan Accueil last June, this is your third mandate. What new momentum do you want to give to the association?
After a first mandate which began in the middle of Covid in June 2020, then years marred by the vagaries of the pandemic, this new adventure will be released this time! I am happy to have by my side a quality committee for the year 2022-2023, made up of five other members: Brigitte Lefèvre (vice-president and secretary-general), Clarisse Couprie (vice-president and head of activities) , Carmen Govi (treasurer), Fabienne Herbin (responsible for reception) and Fanny de Colombel (responsible for the Tam-Tam), as well as a team of 50 volunteers to offer activities, visits, meetings and much kindness to all our members.
This new year is starting with the momentum given by the fantastic event which took place on the Martini terrace last June. This evening gave a beautiful light to the association which has always been very festive, although it was forced to fall asleep during the Covid for this kind of event. On the other hand, we have always maintained a dense level of activity thanks to the meetings organized online.
We can already see this new impetus: we should aim for 300 members this year.
What are your projects and novelties?
We are fortunate to have recent recruits who are offered to lead new activities. Among them are family outings “Laughing Coco” with, for example, walks in the mountains, an egg hunt to celebrate Easter or readings on the grass organized with the traveling bookstore William Crocodile. The idea is to create as many links as possible between the different associations and French speakers in Milan.
Another novelty is theaperitif-library, organized one Friday a month around a reading sharing. A new jewelry creation workshop will also be set up by a jeweler.
And the working group Impuls’lavoro (animated by volunteers to support participants in their job search) change the formula in order to create more links between members.
We will also continue most of our activities, such as sewing lessons and “chatting in the kitchen” to exchange easy recipes.
What are your biggest upcoming events?
The first not-to-be-missed event is undoubtedly the traditional Back-to-School Café organized at the French Institute in Milan this Thursday, September 15, open to anyone who wants to discover the association.
And to note in all diaries: the Back-to-School Cocktail on October 6, also open to all (on prior registration). A highly anticipated event because it is the first in three years!