A group of young migrants who struggled to find work in Italy has been brought to Adelaide to reinvigorate a long-running social club. 

For decades, social clubs such as Adelaide’s Fogolar Furlan, which was established to support migrants from the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, were crucial parts of the lives of post-war immigrants.

But as original members aged, and Australia further embraced its multiculturalism, the relevance of the social clubs waned.

When Giovanni Freschi moved from Italy to Adelaide three years ago, he found the Fogolar Furlan had passed its heyday.

“Basically there were no young people involved,” Mr Freschi said.

“All the second and third generation of the club in some way lost interest during the years.”

Club president Marisa Baldassi said the 60-year-old venue was “on the way down”.

“We were trying all sort of things, we didn’t know what else to try,” she said.

Then, while on a trip home to Italy, Mr Freschi had an idea.

He recruited several friends from his region of Friuli Venezia Giulia who had been struggling to find work at home to come and work at the club.

“That’s when I was starting to think, there is a crisis on one side, there is a crisis on the other,” he said.

“We could try to connect the dots.”

From Friuli to Felixstow

One of those friends, Michele De Bona, has drawn on his cultural heritage studies to host events and help Italian-Australians rediscover their roots within the club’s archives, which includes photographic records.

“We have a lot of younger persons who come here and they try to search a person related with their family,” he said.

“Our region, its starting to expand information, and to share information about Friuli in all Italy, and we want to do the same stuff here.”

The result of their labours has been the total revitalisation of the club, where attendance has noticeably spiked.

But the impact of such endeavours is not just confined to the local community, research economist Tania Dey said there were much broader benefits.

“Some migrants are very skilled, which helps in uplifting the productivity of Australia, which is something that we need if we want to maintain our current standard of living,” Dr Dey said.

“Migrants pay taxes, which means that they broaden the tax base in an economy which is facing an ageing population.”

Ms Baldassi has been delighted by the turnaround in the club’s fortunes.

“All kinds of people who want to learn about our country, who are eating our food that has been presented in a more sophisticated way … but it’s still our food,” she said.

Mr Freschi said members who have seen the club’s revival have “realised that the future was possible”.

“If you don’t keep up with the future, you lose culture, you lose the tradition,” he said.