By Liz Hull
Last updated at 8:07 AM on 4th December 2010
A family living off £568-a-week state handouts have become the victims of a hate campaign after demanding a bigger council house.
Jobless Kelvin and Sarah Strudwick, both 35, say they are struggling to bring up their six children in a cramped three-bedroomed home.
They claim they could be forced to split up and live separately unless the council agrees to pay for a bigger property.
Eight-strong: The Strudwicks have become victims of a 'hate campaign' since their request for a bigger council house was published in their local paper
But after their plight was highlighted in their local newspaper the couple have faced a backlash from townsfolk who have branded them ‘selfish scroungers’.
Mr Strudwick, who has a university degree, claims he wants to work, but no one will give him a job because he suffers from dyslexia.
He said there was no point in getting a poorly paid manual job because the family, which receives £29,500 a year in benefits, would have allowances taken away and would be worse off.
Too small: Sarah and Kelvin Strudwick's present council house in Oldham, Greater Manchester
‘We’re not scroungers, but we can’t carry on as we are,’ Mrs Strudwick said.
‘Everybody is bickering because they do not have any space or privacy.’
Mr Strudwick said he had applied for a second council home and could be forced to live with his three older children away from his wife and younger offspring, unless the council find a bigger house.
‘I want to work but a shelf stacking job at a supermarket is not going to bring more money to the house – if anything it will bring less because we will lose a lot of the benefits,’ he said.
The couple already had three children Ethan, 15, Zackery, 14, and Adrienna, 13, when Mr Strudwick underwent a vasectomy.
However, he decided to have it reversed after securing a place to study genetics at Manchester University. Fourth child Ysabella was born in 2005 but was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia.
The couple decided to have more children in an effort to obtain matching stem cells to aid her recovery.
They conceived Ezekiel, now 20 months, after two rounds of IVF and, although the stem cell treatment failed, Ysabella is currently in remission following chemotherapy.
Last year Mrs Strudwick became pregnant again and Matilda was born in April.
Full house: The Strudwicks, left to right: Ethan, Matilda, Kelvin, Ezekiel, Ysabella, Zachery, Sarah, Adrianna.
At their semi, in Oldham, space is tight. The couple have turned their dining room into a downstairs bedroom for the two eldest girls while Matilda sleeps in a cot in their room.
First Choice Homes, which manages council housing in Oldham, says there are no larger properties available for the family in the area.
After reading about the couple, scores of people bombarded the local newspaper’s website criticising them.
One said: ‘These scroungers are an absolute disgrace. I and many others have no sympathy, get some self respect and get a job Kelvin to support your family, you are a laughing stock of Oldham.’
Another added: ‘So no jobs between them, six kids, already have a three bed council house for which they won’t be paying any rent and want FCHO to build them an extension. The world has gone mad.’
Despite receiving nearly £30,000 a year in child benefit, income support, tax credits, housing benefits and free school dinners, Mr Strudwick – who suffers from depression – said those who criticised them for relying on the state were being unfair.
He said he had applied for more than 250 jobs but had failed to get a single interview.
‘It’s quite demoralising. I know what my obligations are as a parent. I’m volunteering at the local rugby club and I fix people’s cars so I keep busy.’
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