For many of us, lockdown life has revolved around food, whether it’s planning the next meal, trying not to open the biscuit tin or the near-constant wails of “Muuuuum, I’m hungry” from home-schooling children.
Spare a thought then, for Britain’s biggest family.
With dozens of hungry mouths to feed, it’s no wonder the Radfords – who have an almost unimaginable 22 children – have seen their food bills rocket by more than £100 a week.
On average, the family consumes 16 pints of milk and four loaves of bread a day, and 24 toilet rolls, three tubes of toothpaste and 80 yoghurts a week.
And if they decide to serve up sausages for dinner, they need to put 56 of them under the grill.
A family Mexican, meanwhile, will set them back 5kg of chicken, 1kg of cheese and four packets of tortilla wraps.
(Image: SWNS)
Parents Sue, 45, and Noel, 50, admit the last year has been both chaotic and challenging – even without their eldest kids Chris, 31, and Sophie, 27, under their roof.
“You do feel like you are going a bit crazy because there are so many in the house,” explains Sue.
“The weather has been awful recently so there isn’t a lot you can do. You can’t escape either, as there is not a quiet place at home!”
You can imagine silence is a rare commodity in a home filled with mum, dad and children Chloe, 25, Jack, 23, Daniel, 21, Luke, 20, Millie, 19, Katie, 18, James, 17, Ellie, 15, Aimee, 14, Josh, 13, Max, 12, Tillie, 10, Oscar, nine, Casper, eight, Hallie, five, Phoebe, four, Archie, three, Bonnie, two, and 10-month-old Heidie.
The couple’s 17th son, Alfie, was sadly stillborn in 2014.
Money, too, must be in short supply? “Our food bill has nearly doubled as the children are constantly eating,” says Sue.
(Image: THE RADFORD FAMILY/YOUTUBE)
“We usually spend about £300 but in lockdown, we are now spending £400 a week on food – sometimes more.”
Noel runs a successful pie firm and employs daughter, Chloe, to help – providing the much-needed funds to pay for the huge family’s extortionate costs.
“I have found it hard buying all the food with people thinking we are greedy,” Sue adds.
“They think you are stockpiling. We have never once done that.”
The family are now about to share what their life has been like during lockdown in a fly-on-the-wall series for Channel 5.
Like millions of other parents, the trials and tribulations of home-schooling have been a challenge.
Sitting the six children of secondary school age around the 14-seat dining room table and the five at primary school in the kitchen at the 10-bedroom family home in Morecambe, Lancs, is not always easy.
(Image: Lion TV)
Sue laughs: “We’ve got Heidie, who is 10 months, and quite a few toddlers so I am going in so many different directions when the kids are asking, ‘What’s this, Mum?’
“Trying to look after them has been hard. I have felt like saying, ‘Alexa, can you home-school the children?!’ We have also had to buy James, Ellie, Aimee, Katie and Josh an iPad each. The 8th of March can’t come soon enough.”
Sue readily admits that it’s hard to keep her eye on everyone, and says: “We have had the haircutting incident twice now where the little ones have got hold of the scissors and starting cutting each other’s hair.
“I hid the scissors but then Chloe had a pair that she kept in her make-up bag that I didn’t know about and the kids found them and did it again.
“If we use paints and I am not quick enough putting them away, then Archie will run off with one and draw on the walls.”
So how does she try and discipline them? “I must admit I don’t like to be constantly shouting at the kids,” Sue replies. “I am not that kind of parent and I do tend to let a lot go over our heads.”
(Image: Lion TV)
As the couple – who tied the knot in 1993 – lift the lid on their extraordinary life, I find myself, as a mum of two, in total awe of them.
Even going for a family walk is like a military operation. “It took us nearly an hour on Sunday just to get out the door,” explains Noel.
“You get shoes on so many then put them in the car and then come back to get some others. Then the ones in the car decide they need something and get back out!”
But the struggle to get out of the house is not a problem for Sue and Noel, who wouldn’t have it any other way. Sue says: “We are definitely closer as a family thanks to lockdown.”
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The arrival of their youngest daughter, Heidie, last April was extra special. “It was harder having Heidie during the first lockdown,” Sue explains.
“But I’m lucky because I can share her with our children. For first-time parents, it is really tough.”
The family haven’t been able to escape coronavirus though. They were forced to self-isolate before Christmas when Noel tested positive.
“I had a bit of a chesty cough and I lost my sense of smell,” he explains.
“Daniel also tested positive, and Aimee had the same symptoms as me but tested negative.”
(Image: The Radford Family)
You do wonder if Sue, who is incredibly philosophical about the daily pressures, has found herself counting down the hours until wine o’clock, like many other mums in Britain.
“It’s nice to relax after a busy day but to be honest, I don’t sit down until about 9pm,” she admits.
Indeed, after the family dinner at 6pm, Sue catches up with housework before tackling mountains of washing – up to four loads a day – in the family’s industrial-sized 18kg machine. Then there is the small matter of trying to get the children to bed.
“We have found bedtime a lot harder in lockdown,” says Sue. “They have got way more energy and they don’t want to go to bed.”
(Image: LancLive/ WS)
But staying at home does have its advantages – all of the children have enjoyed their own birthday parties.
Sue and Noel are genuinely warm and likeable and insist they are “just your average parents”. But the million-pound question now is are the couple contemplating a 23rd?
“No, we are not having any more,” Sue replies. “Definitely 100% not.”
As for the future, the couple say they would love to one day travel.
“We want to get a campervan and just go off in it,” says Sue. “That’s the dream,” adds Noel.
If any couple deserve a rest, Sue and Noel Radford definitely do…
*22 Kids and Counting starts this Monday at 9pm on Channel 5.