When we drank out 2019 and welcomed in 2020 I don’t think any of us had any idea of what was in store for us If someone told you that in March the government would essentially close the country you wouldn’t have believed them.
Suddenly words and phrases we’d never previously heard of became common parlance. We talked about ‘lockdown’ and ‘social distancing’ we were ‘keyworkers’, we queued for shops, but only if they were ‘essential’ and wore masks or visors. We couldn’t visit our families or friends, all pubs and restaurants were shut, we couldn’t visit gyms and we were only allowed out to exercise for 1 hour a day. As individuals and families, we started to adapt. We changed the way we spent time together, we did zoom quizzes, we visited loved ones from the end of their drives and we waved through windows.
However, while we were trying to keep ourselves sane, businesses had a much tougher job on their hands. They needed to keep their businesses running in what was going to be the most challenging year they’d ever faced. What we’ve witnessed here in Darlington has been absolutely amazing. We watched businesses adapt to the circumstances they’re faced with. Restaurants, cafe’s and pubs offered takeaways. Just because customers couldn’t visit didn’t mean they couldn’t have their favourite Sunday dinner or parmo. We saw shops that were classed as non-essential move to trading online, our partners here at Zeek Dot Design built hundreds of e-commerce sites to help businesses adapt and continue to offer their valuable services to their customers. Plumbers, Electricians, Decorators and all of the other businesses that we rely on to keep us safe, dry, warm and comfortable adapted their working practices to ensure they were following social distancing and were covid safe.
While the businesses changed to allow them to still offer their services the customers stepped up and continued to support them. Darlington has a very close sense of community, it’s a place that likes to buy local, and supports the towns many diverse businesses. While 2020 continues to be a difficult year here at the Darlo Directory we’re proud to be part of a community that has done everything in its power to continue to provide valuable products and services to its town.
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