Printed By Us Local social enterprise gives thoughts on Covid-19
Quite simply, work is our therapy, with all the added support and benefits it brings.
Unless you've been living on the moon or, like Jared Leto, have been attending a no-technology meditation retreat for the last few weeks, you will not have failed to notice the general sense of anxiety that has quickly gripped society due to the Covid-19 virus.
It's becoming increasingly difficult to not be caught up with feelings of panic and uncertainty, especially when it's brought to our own homes and lives with empty supermarket shelves, school closures, workplaces shutting down, social distancing being put into effect and now an effective lockdown.
Whilst we are all too aware of the health implications of this current crisis, many of us were caught totally unawares by the economic ones, with most non-essential personnel working from home or even not working at all.
What does this current crisis mean and how does it affect Printed By us as a social enterprise?
Where we differ from traditional business models is that alongside our business goals, we have social goals: to maximise the social improvements in financial, social, mental and environmental wellbeing of our staff and partner participants.
Quite simply, work is our therapy, with all the added support and benefits it brings: paid work hours, wellbeing activities and social inclusivity.
Many of us have returned to work and society after complete disengagement for many years due to a host of complex and challenging circumstances. With our work being a vital component for our mental health and recovery, this is a very troubling time for us all.
We have had to take some sensible precautions and impose some restrictions on how Printed By us operates as a whole. With many of our at-risk people having to self-isolate, we have had to drastically reduce hours because of the reduced operational capability working from home.
Printed By Us generates revenue from four main areas:
- Operating stalls. You will find us around Sheffield and sometimes further afield.
- Selling our full range of merchandise in partnership with our wonderful stockists dotted throughout the city.
- Delivering custom printing jobs for a range of businesses including t-shirts, tote bags, sweaters and mugs.
- Generating revenue from online orders through our website printedbyus.org/shop, with yours truly picking and processing orders with free first-class delivery to our valued customers.
With Covid-19 forcing all non-essential businesses to close their shutters and people unwilling or unable to spend money in such uncertain financial times, this in itself would present a challenge.
However, coupled with the health concerns of people unwilling to accept deliveries or parcels and our custom printing enquiries being non-existent, we will struggle to stay afloat without our valued customers continuing to buy our products, if they can afford to.
As a team we are doing all we can to remain operational, and we initially focussed on our marketing operations until we were confident that we could deliver parcels without risk to our staff and those receiving them. We are taking all possible precautions to minimise risk.
If they appeal to you, please still buy our products during this time as we depend on the continual income to keep our heads above water. Our shop can be found here. We're also offering free UK shipping and 5% off when you spend £50 or more.
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