The word unprecedented has been used a lot lately. Too much, some would say! But really, how else can you describe what it is like to be living through a global pandemic, that has seen borders close, nationwide shut downs, and a ban on hugging? Not to mention the absolute devastation of lives lost and livelihoods destroyed.

It’s not something any of us could predict, and it’s certainly not what we had visualised for Perryman’s this year. Who would have thought that instead of planning our new series of (spoiler alert) pies of the month, we would be watching late night press releases, unsure whether or not the bakery would be allowed to continue trading? We could never have expected that when supermarkets ran out, we would be pulling out every last tin in the bakery to bake bread for our locals. We didn’t know this time six months ago, when our little shop front was crammed with people, that we would soon be asking people to please keep 1.5 metres distance apart – this goes against everything we feel as a community loving enterprise!

It has been such a difficult year, and it’s only halfway through. We know that the next six months may not get any easier, and we are desperate to find ways to help our local economy recover. We also know that the suffering and pain around the globe will be even more difficult to recover from.

Something that has been amazing though, has been the amount of care and compassion we have witnessed. We have seen it in the smiling faces of our customers when we were so worried about our business and our staff, as they told us they would support us for as long as we remained open. We have seen it in the influx of people ordering our products as care packages for people self-isolating due to health or other reasons. We have seen it walking down Tynte Street past the beautiful encouraging posters made by students at North Adelaide Primary School, as we have taken our little ones on a “bear hunt” around the local streets. Everywhere we turn, we see little glimpses of the love that underpins humanity.

So while the future looks a little scary, it isn’t entirely without hope. And as we keep baking in our little corner shop, we take immense encouragement from all the good things we can see around us. Yes, this is an unprecedented time of pain and devastation, but we believe that we can also make it an unprecedented time of support, love and hope. Each of us has so much power to undertake actions, no matter how small, to improve the lives of those around us. We are excited to continue to see this happening in our bakery, our street, our suburb and our world.