Letter from the editor: Different views on DIY but safety must be top priority

I must say that this news did not have much of an impact on me. I have spent far too many hours trailling around DIY stores to do anything other than hate them. However my husband, as you may have guessed, is quite the opposite.

I am very grateful that he is able to fix things when they need it and save us a fortune when we don’t have to pay professionals. But is DIY essential? Clearly some is and lockdown certainly seems to have helped more things break. We’ve had both leaky pipies and blocked drains in the last four weeks. Under normal circumstances, we would have nipped to the store to buy replacement parts. As it was we – well, I didn’t really do anything more than utter encouraging words – used the approach of make do and mend.

We all fully appreciate that normal service is suspended, other than the utterly essential. But for some, the ability to do DIY will make their hearts sing, their spirits lift and ease some of the pressures of lockdown.

Just like gardening, we all have our own ways of coping and being able to improve your home is a rather nifty one.

I know I am not alone in wishing our garden centres could be back open. This is less because I want to shop and more because most of them are independent businesses. Their stock is wasting, their staff need paying and I am sure they would adhere to social distancing much better than some of the horror stories we are reading about international warehouses and companies.

We would all rather spend locally than see our pounds disappear overseas with the big internet delivery companies. Billionaires don’t need more cash, our wonderful independent businesses desperately do.

Vital to all of this has to be the safety of workers … and thus their families, our NHS and ultimately the health of us all. This can’t be about reopening to make money. It must be done properly, carefully and in a way which reassures staff that we have got their back.

We have all followed the rules so far because we want to stop this pandemic as quickly as we are able. We certainly mustn’t risk that at any point by re-opening without careful planning.