Dear Friends,
The Annual General Meeting of the Società Dante Alighieri Auckland was held yesterday, Saturday 7 March, in the new Dante Rooms of the Freemans Bay Community Centre, Auckland. Please find below the President's report.
We also would like to inform our members that it is time to renew your Dante membership, and that the committee has deliberated that there will be no changes on membership fees for 2026, as we wish to keep these low and affordable to everyone.
You can renew your membership online, with a bank transfer to Società Dante Alighieri BNZ a/c 020192-0309263-00 with the reference "LASTNAME/MSHIP”.
Language students can also pay by eftpos when they attend classes.
Dante Auckland AGM – President's Report
Cari amici e soci della Dante Auckland,
Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us for our 2026 Annual General Meeting.
This has truly been a year of change and new beginnings for our Society. After many years in our historic rooms, we moved into our new home at the Freemans Bay Community Centre.
This move marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the Società Dante Alighieri Auckland.
It took months of planning, organising, packing, and decluttering. There were moments of chaos along the way! But thanks to the dedication of our committee and volunteers, we made it happen. This has given us a space that will allow more flexibility and more opportunities to grow our activities and bring our community together. At the same time, we are aware that the move has increased our fixed costs, and we remain mindful of managing these responsibly.
I would like to sincerely thank all the committee members who helped to make this move possible. In particular, thank you to Valeria Santillo, Luca Manghi and Riccardo Lucignani, as well as the many volunteers who supported us before, during and after the move. A special thank you also goes to our students for their patience while we adjusted to our new space.
Despite the challenges of relocating, we continued to offer a rich programme of activities.
Our CineDante film series brought several screenings, followed by engaging discussions.
Our monthly Cantastorie sessions continued to be a wonderful opportunity for families to come together. These mornings allow children and parents to reconnect with their Italian background through stories, play and conversation in Italian.
Dedicated to the children was also our Festa di Pasqua, another lovely occasion to share the Italian traditions with the youngest in our community.
Our Colazione gatherings also continued, together with activities such as the Italian Quizzone and special guest speakers, including Federica Bressan, who presented her book Nel cuore della Tuscia.
In October, we celebrated the Italian Language Week under the theme Italophony – A Language Beyond Borders. Thanks to Professor Bernadette Luciano, Barbara Martelli and Elia Bressanello, a rich programme of talks, screenings and events was organised at the University of Auckland, finishing with the beautiful All Vivaldi Concert and Aperitivo.
We ended the year with a joyful Festa di Natale, which also marked the official opening of our new space. It was lovely to welcome members and friends to celebrate together, with live music from the Auckland Mandolinata Orchestra, games for the bambini and families, panettone and other Italian treats, and the photographic exhibition Italians of Auckland by Francesca Brugnoli.
As always, we began the year with our popular Intensive Course, which welcomed more than 50 students for a five-day immersive experience in Italian language and culture.
None of this would be possible without the support of our members, students, and volunteers. I am pleased to say that the Society is in a stronger financial position compared to previous years and has achieved a positive result for the year. Our Treasurer, Lynne Webb, will shortly present the financial report in more detail. Because of this positive position, the committee is pleased to confirm that membership fees will remain the same for the coming year.
I would also like to thank our committee members and teachers.
In particular, I would like to acknowledge Valeria Santillo, who has decided to step down from the committee after many years of dedicated service, including her time as Treasurer. We are very grateful for her contribution and are pleased to offer her an honorary membership.
Fiorella Tomasi is also stepping down from the Committee as she prepares to move back to Italy. Fiorella spent a long time managing our playgroup, where her energy and creativity were both inspiring and contagious. Her generosity and always going above and beyond will be greatly missed. We wish her all the very best in this new chapter.
At the same time, we are also delighted to welcome back Martina Depentor to the committee. Martina has been part of our Society for many years, and we are very happy to have her supporting us again — both from Auckland when she is here and from Treviso when she is in Italy.
Finally, a very special thank you to Lynne Webb, who stepped into the role of Treasurer last year. Her expertise and dedication have been invaluable. Under her guidance, our Society was formally re-registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 on 2 December 2025 — an important achievement for our organization.
As we look ahead, the committee remains committed to offering a lively and meaningful programme that promotes and celebrates Italian language and culture in Auckland.
Grazie a tutti for your continued support, enthusiasm, and for being part of our community.
Flavia Berucci
President
Società Dante Alighieri Auckland
