It’s all about family, for us. Our very first commission for the Bridlington Poetry Festival in 2011 was an appeal from the Director, John Wedgwood Clarke – to help attract more families to the festival, and to provide them with a glorious silly, poetry-inspired outdoor event. It helped that our own children were 5 and 2 at the time – we were able to understand how families operate on days out, and make sure that our events not only fulfilled, but exceeded expectations. We’re often asked what age range our events are ‘for’. The answer is always the same – they’re for families – of all ages and all shapes and sizes – to enjoy together. Our own children are our harshest critics – although over the years they have loved bringing cousins and friends to events, they have generally preferred an event which didn’t feature Mummy or Daddy… They’re getting older now, but they still enjoy Rusticus events, sometimes despite themselves, and have also proved able helpers – not least in allowing us to use their image to help with the marketing effort. Our youngest was delighted to be approached in the playground by one of the parent governors who announced that she’d gone to the loo at Castle Howard and been most alarmed to see that he was watching her every move from his position on a poster on the inside of the toilet door!