EMBRACING COMMUNITY

Mark Simon Hewis celebrates the opportunity to bring people together and encourage longer-term commitment

“Peter Lord [Aardman cofounder] has had a massive part to play in the development of the Academy. Peter will say to people who come in: ‘Look, this is a community. This is a genuine community, which means you need to talk to us and keep in touch and email us. And you need to ask our advice and you need to let us know when you’ve done something. And we’ll let you know when we’re doing something.’ We’re not trying to pick people up, wind the crank as they go through all the cogs, spitting them out at the other end. That’s not the intention. The intention is to develop, build and nurture a community.”