Economic policies tend to downplay social and community considerations in favour of market-led and business-focussed support. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the need for greater and deeper social cohesion and local social support networks while highlighting that an overreliance on market forces can create social problems at times of need. Community businesses (CBs) are not for profit organisations that provide services and produce goods where the profit (or surplus) is reinvested back into that community. This article explores why CBs in England responded in a variety of ways to the COVID-19 pandemic, assesses what government policy did to help and hinder their place-based operations, and explores the observed socioeconomics of their age-related volunteer staff churn. Some CBs were ravaged by the consequences of the pandemic and associated government policies with many becoming unsustainable, while others evolved and augmented their support for and services to their communities, thereby enhancing their community’s resilience. We highlight how adjustments to government policies could enhance the sustainability of CBs, making them and the communities they serve more resilient.

经济政策倾向于淡化社会和社区的考虑，而倾向于以市场为主导和以企业为中心的支持。COVID-19 大流行强调需要更大和更深入的社会凝聚力和当地社会支持网络，同时强调过度依赖市场力量可能会在需要时造成社会问题。社区企业 (CB) 不是提供服务和生产商品的营利性组织，其中利润（或盈余）被重新投资回该社区。本文探讨了英格兰的 CB 为何以多种方式应对 COVID-19 大流行，评估政府政策在帮助和阻碍其本地运营方面所做的工作，并探讨了观察到的与年龄相关的志愿者员工流失的社会经济学。一些 CB 受到大流行的后果和相关政府政策的蹂躏，许多变得不可持续，而另一些 CB 则发展并增加了对社区的支持和服务，从而增强了社区的复原力。我们强调了政府政策的调整如何增强 CB 的可持续性，使它们及其所服务的社区更具弹性。