Welcome to this week’s Fyne Folk, our blog introducing Fyne Ales team members and talking to them about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to introduce you to the folk who make our brewery what it is, and share their stories from lockdown, how they’ve been coping with the new normal and what their hopes are for a post-pandemic brewery and world.

In the penultimate Fyne Folk interview, we talk to Janet Riddoch, a linch pin of the office team who’s role at Fyne Ales changed drastically at the advent of the pandemic. One of the chillest members of the team – we caught up with Janet to find out how Covid-19 impacted her personal and professional lives and how she’s feeling about a post-pandemic future.

FYNE ALES ONLINE SHOP

How has your 2020 been?
Different – the same as everybody else – but overall it’s been fine and also Fyne.

So before the pandemic you were part-time with the brewery, mostly working on accounts stuff?
Yeah, mostly accounts payable and a bit of office cover – a couple of days a week working on spreadsheets and answering phones. Honest work.

And your role changed quite quickly once the pandemic started?
You could say that – I think because I’m quite flexible and because I’d helped out with processing internet orders last Christmas – I ended up working quite a lot more. I came in to do some accounts work one day and was asked could I come back to help do some order processing the next day, and then the next day I was asked the same thing and pretty quickly I was working 45 hours a week and it was all online orders because we were so, so busy.

As someone who was here working right from the beginning when we had that huge wave of support with online shop orders – was it as crazy as the others have made it out to be?
Honestly, it was pretty hectic – the level of support was brilliant and we all very quickly became experts on packing boxes and shredding cardboard for packing material and also very quickly became a really close little team. Everyone else was furloughed or working from home so there was only four of us here every day and we were working hard but supporting each-other through it.

One of the other things we quickly became experts on was what makes a good elevenses treat – it’s very important to keep the energy up when you’re doing so much physical work!

How did you find balancing your personal life with working so much more and the restrictions we were (and still are) living with?
It worked well for us – my circumstances meant I was able to be here as much as I was needed and we were grateful for the extra work.

When it comes to the restrictions, I think I’m quite fortunate – as a family, we don’t go out to restaurants and it’s very rare for my partner and I to go out somewhere to socialise, mostly because where we live is so rural and quite isolated.

The saddest thing is not being able to see my elderly mum for over a year now – I know she’s being well-looked after and hopeful we’ll get to see her in the new year.

Your family is yourself, your partner and you’ve got two daughters – how did they find living with the pandemic?
Again, I think we’re quite lucky when it comes to the education side of things. My eldest daughter had just finished school before this started, and my younger daughter was brilliant from the very beginning – she just got her head down and adapted really quickly to virtual learning, the same as all her friendship group, they just got on with it.

Personally, it’s been tougher – as I said we’re quite isolated where we live and then when you take away the ability to go and see friends it’s been difficult for them. And for my eldest it’s her age-group that’s missed out on any big 18th birthday celebrations, which is obviously sad for them. I’ve told her she can have a big 18+1 birthday next year to make up for it.

Did you pick up any new hobbies or get better at anything during the lockdown – you’re a keen runner?
Not really – running’s a social thing for me, and if I can’t run with other people or in a group I struggle to get motivated. I didn’t give up on it – I kept up regular three or four mile runs on my own to keep things ticking over, but it was a relief when we were allowed to meet up with others outside again because it meant I could get a proper run.

You’re quite a key part of the FyneFest team – you run the box office each year – how was no festival this year for you?
Well it was sad, of course. We left it as long as we could and explored every option for doing it later in the year but obviously we couldn’t do that. We gave ticket-holders the chance to roll over their ticket to next year, and we had an amazing amount of people choosing to do that which is brilliant for the event and also brilliant for me because it was fewer refunds for me to process!

And next year’s festival – how are you feeling about that?
Yeah, it’s looking like FyneFest 2021 might be a real possibility with all the recent news, which would be brilliant of course. I know there’s plans being discussed in the background at the moment – it’d mean so much to the team to host the festival next year and I’m 100% confident it’s going to be incredible no matter what form it takes.

Are you generally feeling like there’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel?
I’m usually a person who likes to live in the now – live in the moment – but with everything being announced with vaccines, you can’t help but have a bit of hope that some form of normality might be on its way. It’s been a really tough year for a lot of people, Fyne Ales included, so I think we an be afforded a bit of positivity and hope.

Remember, it’s not whether the glass is half full or half empty, it’s what’s in the glass that counts and if it’s Jarl, you’re doing fine.

FYNE ALES ONLINE SHOP