As the first few doses of the coronavirus vaccine make their way to Peterborough residents, it’s comforting to know that some of the features of normal life are carrying on.
Peterborough Cathedral will host its traditional Christmas carol service, albeit it will be according to the new safety guidelines. Although more families are apart than we would like, at least the general goodwill of the season appears neither to have diminished nor changed. A local pub is going to serve turkey katsu curry and battered sprouts with Christmas pudding sundae for dessert.
Residents’ light displays are as striking as ever.
I think if we were less enthusiastic as a whole, we would be forgiven. From every angle, this has been an excruciating year. I doubt anyone who welcomed in 2020 could foresee how difficult it would be. The pandemic has torn through our country; and it is only now, as the year starts to turn, that we are starting to see the other side of it.
The tabloids have long been preoccupied with the idea of the “Spirit of the Blitz”; whenever the nation faces difficulties, both the media and some politicians revert back to World War 2, and suggest we merely need to embrace the grit that got us through that period to survive a present challenge. However, this event is rather distant in our current memory. Perhaps it doesn’t give enough credit to Britain today and the resilience it has shown in the face of the crisis.
Let’s be very honest: the past ten years of Conservative led government meant that our systems were fragile. Local government has been underfunded for some time. When the pandemic hit, both national and local governments were left sputtering for a response. It was the “Spirit of the Pandemic”, the resilience of individuals and charity groups, which has taken up much of the slack.
Our summer was blessed with good weather, but I also recall the story of a teacher in Wales who took it upon himself during those golden months to deliver food to his students. We all know such stories: we know neighbours who have helped out the vulnerable. We know people who ran charity bake offs. We know people who offered to lend a hand to those in difficulty.
Beyond the difficulties and isolation imposed by the pandemic, we learned that there is such a thing as society, that we are not are all atomised into tiny fragments of a country, rather, we are still a community. We also learned, I believe, that rebuilding after this prolonged, difficult period will require a greater emphasis on community than returning to what we once had.
After the blitz and the privations of World War 2, the people of Britain came to a similar realisation. They looked around and saw that the only way to rebuild was to do so together: this meant that the gruff indifference to those on limited means that characterised the Depression period was no longer acceptable. They realised that we had to do better as a whole. They voted accordingly. 2021 may very well be another such moment for our city; we do better when all do better. It’s this spirit that got us through the pandemic. We won’t forget.