Our op shop staff were significantly impacted, but many found new ways to contribute.

The pandemic has impacted the whole retail industry, including our op shops. Except for just one regional store, BSL was required to close our network for much of this financial year, with a significant impact on our workforce.

Many of our Community Stores staff pivoted to supporting Brotherhood Books . Book orders came flooding in as the community was looking for ways to keep entertained at home during lock-down.

Through our team’s tenacity, we grew our Brotherhood Books online store, opened an online retail store , and opened our new Melbourne store in Sandringham , which has been a great success.

During the times we were open, our stores performed well, with the community coming out in force to support us with even more donations of goods. And it has been heart-warming to see our staff, our volunteers and the community engage again with our stores. We look forward to welcoming back all when restrictions fully ease.