Doing volunteer work in a village shop is normally a pretty relaxed affair, consisting of amiable exchanges with those dropping by and making sure you’ve marked up the papers for those who’ve ordered them if you happen to be an ‘opener’.
It’s a little different at the moment. At present, just like the big grocers, there’s somebody to guard the door – and sterilise it with a spray whenever anybody goes in or out – and only two people are allowed in at once. There’s also the now-familiar screen between customers and till operator.
For many, however, the shop is a no-go area. They are the self-isolating ‘vulnerable’ and the reason the shop trades for three fewer hours than previously is because those working a ‘shift’ in the afternoon prepare orders that have been phoned in by (mostly) vulnerable account holders.
At 5pm, or thereabouts, volunteer delivery drivers arrive. The shop reopens for an hour for those able to visit and socially distance and the rounds are then done locally around East Knoyle, Wiltshire, with food boxes being left on the doorstep.
“It’s simply a village/community shop doing what it can at a moment when its services are more needed than has even been the case”
Mention should also be made of local suppliers. There are a lot of them (alongside Booker, which is occasionally prone to missing things like toilet rolls, but then there are others to deal with for ‘essentials’ such as this, so there’s little point grumbling) and they come in every day, through the back door, observing all that needs to be done as far as keeping away from other people is concerned.
It’s simply a village/community shop doing what it can at a moment when its services are more needed than has even been the case in its decade-long life.
It’s a story that’s being replicated up and down the country. As customers sit on the grass next to the war memorial waiting for their turn to be allowed in, it is about patience in the face of adversity and getting stuff done while being aware of the safety of others.
For those working in the shop, this is not a ‘call of duty’, but just an adaptation of something that is done day in, day out, 364 days a year.
And there is a degree of personal sophistication about the way in which the whole thing is managed (“John, you able to work for a couple of hours on Tuesday and Thursday?”) that is at least as finely honed as many larger enterprises. Or maybe not, but you know what I mean.
We’re all shopping more locally at the moment and, when Covid-19 is behind us, Wren’s Shop in East Knoyle can be an example of why that is not such a bad thing.
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