Inside mum-of-22 Sue Radford’s manic £7k Christmas prep – from Santa letters to blinged-up trees in every room
MAKING Christmas magical for kids can be time-consuming, so spare a thought for mum-of-22 Sue Radford.
The mum of Britain’s biggest family has been sharing with fans how she celebrates the festive period, and it certainly doesn’t come cheap.
Sue, 49, from Morecambe, shared how she typically spends £7,000 on their festivities at their 10-bedroom former care home.
Sue and Noel are parents to Chris, 35, Sophie, 30, Chloe, 29, Jack, 27, Daniel, 25, Luke, 24, Millie, 23, Katie, 22, James, 21, Ellie, 19, Aimee, 18, Josh, 17, Max, 15, Tillie, 14, Oscar, 13, Casper, 12, Hallie, nine, Phoebe, eight, Archie, seven, Bonnie, six, and Heidie, four.
Sadly the couple’s 17th child Alfie was still born on July 6, 2014.
Here’s how Sue makes Christmas magical for her bumper brood…
Letters from Santa
The busy mum shared on Instagram this weekend how her kids had received some rather exciting mail.
She shared a bundle of notes, and wrote: “How cute, the kids have got letters from Santa.”
Tree in every room
The family are known for going all out for Christmas, so it’s no surprise their ‘millionaire mansion’ has yet again been transformed to look like Santa’s grotto.
Dad-of-22 Noel took to YouTube to show off some of their decorations, which include a Christmas tree in nearly every room, twinkling lights, and more fireplace stockings than you’ve ever seen.
In the vlog, Noel first showed off the family’s main Christmas tree in the living room – and it’s a sight to behold.
The green tree was covered in lights and ribbons, plus large red baubles, and instead of the traditional angel or star on top, the family went for some rustic red and white foliage instead.
Next to the glitzy tree is the fireplace which has also been kitted out for the occasion.
A festive wreath covers the fireplace mantel, but it’s all of the stockings that really stand out.
Elf on the Shelf
Many kids love looking out each morning for a prank created by the Elf on the Shelf toy – and Sue had created this tradition in their home.
However, it didn’t go down too well.
Sue had positioned the cheeky toy riding on a reindeer with a bundle of presents scattered around.
Three of Sue and Noel’s kids opened their packages to reveal the mystery contents inside – and weren’t happy at all.
The ‘elves’ had wrapped up their school uniform ahead of lessons that day.
Chuckling, Sue asked: “What? What have they done?! They’ve wrapped your school uniform!
“Hallie is unimpressed.”
Meanwhile little Heidie, four, ended up chucking her uniform away from her in the lounge.
Writing present requests
Shopping can be a mission, with Sue sharing she usually gives around 300 presents in total.
With this huge task in mind,Sue shared on her YouTube channel how she was helping her kids write their Christmas lists.
In the clip, Sue and Noel read out some of the requests, and this year the kids are hoping for slime, make-up, sweets, headphones, a PlayStation 5 controller, and a colouring set, among other toys.
Noel said: “Slime seems to be quite popular across the board here.”
This seems a lot more affordable than previous years, with Sue sharing one Christmas how she had spent hours searching for a PS5 and a particular Barbie doll’s house but had to have a rethink when she saw the price.
“We have had to give up on the PS5 and we got the doll’s house eventually, but the cost was disgusting.
“It is supposed to be £240 but one site was offering it for over £700,” she explained.
Wrapping fiends
Of course, wrapping doesn’t come easy, and Noel and Sue also get through a staggering 70 rolls of wrapping paper every year.
Thankfully, Sue considers herself a “demon wrapper”, according to MailOnline, as she can wrap a whopping 20 presents in just 15 minutes and has got her process down to a tee.
She added: “I buy presents through the year, and wrap them as they come in.
“One of our biggest headaches at Christmas is where to hide all the gifts. We have them everywhere — even in the boiler cupboard. The trick is remembering where.”
How does family-of-22 the Radfords afford to live?
AS Britain’s biggest family, it may come as no surprise that Sue and Noel Radford must have some hefty bills.
Between them, they have a whopping 22 children and seven dogs, which often has some people wonder how they manage their money.
The Radfords support themselves with the proceeds of Noel’s bakery, The Radford Pie Company, which is located near their home.
On their website, it says: “We have owned our own lovely bakery since 1999 which is how we manage to provide for (and feed) our huge and expanding family as well as for the local people of Heysham and Morecambe.”
The family expanded their business to cater to online orders placed across the UK.
The business is a family affair, with Noel at the helm, and some of their children helping out.
The older kids, who are working at least part-time, don’t get a free ride as they’re made to pay a small amount of rent to their parents.
“Us older ones do pay a little bit of board. Granted it’s not a lot but I’m also trying to save up for my own house at the moment.” their daughter Chloe said in a video on the YouTube channel.
Sue added: “We’ve always said if you want to buy somewhere, renting is a bit of dead money, so we’d rather you saved that money up and stayed at home a bit longer.
“I also do believe they should pay board if they are earning. We’ve always been brought up by our parents that we had to pay board.”
Noel and Sue famously don’t rely on benefits for their bumper brood and live off their pie shop for income.
They also revealed they make money from brand partnerships on social media.
The Radford family stars in their own reality TV show 22 Kids and Counting – which has run for four series.
Brand expert Andy Barr believes Noel and Sue have been paid less than £10,000 for each show.
He told the Daily Mail: “The typical fee per episode is going to be in the thousands rather than the tens or hundreds of thousands that people often think is the case with TV shows of this nature.
“If they continue to get commissioned for a fourth or fifth season, then they are going to be able to command a higher fee.”
He estimates that the Radfords make £ 5,000 an episode.