A new term begins and for those of us committed to sending our darlings to independent schools, it’s back to scrimping, saving and making do.

No, our backs aren’t against the wall, and I’m expecting nothing more than the tiniest of violins, but the 20 per cent VAT addition to fees, plus the cost-of-living squeeze, means we’re feeling the pain acutely.

Even the Royals might be wincing as they wire over £63,000 for Prince George’s first year at Eton.

I reckon I could have bought a house with what I have spent. The problem is, it’s like eating Pringles: once you pop, you just can’t stop.

But there are ways to drive down the list price, as I’ve learnt over my many years of white-knuckle cheque-writing. School fees are like a new car – nobody pays for the add-ons except those for whom money doesn’t matter.

Here’s how the rest of us scrape by…

No parent should pay for Lego Club

Or any club, especially when they’re little. My friend Sarah was hung out to dry by her husband when he discovered she’d been paying extra for little Louis to attend Lego club at their already eye-watering prep.

He could just as easily have clicked a Lego Quidditch broom into a minifigure’s hand at home, of course. Ditto art club, Minecraft club and dance club. If you can do it at home, never, ever pay.

Remember: they can’t do any nice clubs if they’re no longer attending the school because you’ve overspent on after-hours luxuries.

Gourmet lunch? Ham sandwiches will do

Lunch doesn’t need to be five-star. Add-on catering at day schools can run to hundreds of pounds a term, but many allow you to opt out.

A friend who shall remain nameless sent her son off to prep school with a ham sandwich and a flapjack in his sister’s pink lunch box. He survived.

Go ‘vintage’ with uniform and kit

Every school has a second-hand shop or a nearly new sale. Go early, be ruthless, and buy a size up.

Nobody ever needs to pay full-price for an expensive new uniform, plus it’s naff to wear it. My 81-year-old father, who went to the same school as my 17-year-old, offered him his old cricket blazer. It was moth-eaten and nothing like the new version. My son got a high-five for wearing a ‘vintage’ number.

Sneaky sibling discount trick

Most schools apply them to the youngest child, so the saving only kicks in years later. If you’re committed to the school long-term, ask for if it can be applied to the eldest instead, so you save from day one and on the higher senior school fees.

Blag free holidays or stay with relatives

Yes, their classmates will be going to Provence or the Galapagos, but if you can provide access to a hellishly noisy beachside arcade, you’ll have satisfied the under-tens.

Great Aunt Mary, whose house on the Suffolk coast you’ve installed your brood in, will of course cook cottage pie on repeat. But you don’t care because every night there is another night you’re not paying for Center Parcs.

When you’re already paying thousands for their education, a family camping trip instead of three weeks in the Galapagos will do wonders for your bank account

Say no to FOMO, hide school trip letters

School trips are verboten. Hockey in Peru, £3,000. Trekking in Costa Rica, £4,000. Even Gold DofE in the Cairngorms at £400 gets an immediate je ne pense pas. Hide the letters and hold firm when they protest. They’ll understand the term properly when the bailiffs come knocking.

With four months off, let them go feral

Independent school holidays run to four months of the year-plus, which is a lot of weeks to fill even if you are at the relatives for half of it. And filling weeks costs money.

Remind yourself that letting them ‘go feral’ and entertain themselves is character- building. Who wants a helicopter mum anyway?

Dog walks are free. A football is a fine birthday present and a muddy garden is a small price to pay. I know one mum who sends her 12-year-old off with a friend on long ‘explore the Tube map’ trips.

Avoid cinemas, theatres and theme parks at all costs.

Slip on shades and off to Aldi you go

Downgrade your supermarket. M&S and Waitrose is for those who wisely chose to go down the grammar route.

Put on dark glasses and hop into Aldi or Lidl. I have bumped into many a grand family in the middle aisle, eyes agog over Tupperware, wiring tens of thousands to a boarding school with one hand and shovelling own-brand beans into the trolley with the other.

Haggle if they’re boarding… or cry

Never pay the list price. Full boarding at £21,690 a term for the big guns is a starting position. Explore every scholarship going, especially the more obscure ones.

Who knew there were awards for chess, dance and product design, but there are. Some Scottish schools even offer them for bagpipes.

If all that fails, slide up to the Head and ask about a discretionary award. Cry – do whatever it takes! I have it on good authority… it works.

Australians would be able to switch off social media algorithms under draft legislation to be proposed this week.

Communications Minister Anika Wells, who last year helmed the government’s world-first social media ban for under-16s, said the digital duty of care laws would ensure “some basic safety protections on an industry that hasn’t had to observe it”.

If tech firms such as Meta, Google and TikTok did not give the option to turn off algorithms, they should face “substantial” penalties, she said.

Some members of the opposition have criticised the proposal, with Liberal Party leader Angus Taylor saying he was “highly sceptical” and arguing the move could amount to censorship.

The government will be taking “expert advice” on whether users would have to opt in or out of the algorithms feeding them content online, Wells said.

This means that, as with its social media ban, the government is looking to bring in legislation before fully hammering out the specifics of how it would work.

“We want to give Australians more choice over what they see on their social media feeds,” Wells told the ABC on Monday.

“We know that a lot of Australians appreciate the algorithm both for the enjoyment they get out of it or the utility that they get out of it, seeing local businesses in their suburb.

“A lot of Australians will want to choose the algorithm. But we think that big tech should offer them the choice in the first place and they should respect that choice.

“Big tech is not a protected species and they should offer their customers basic safety standards.”

But she admitted that so far no tech firm had been fined for not enforcing the social media ban, despite research consistently showing that the vast majority of under 16s who were on platforms before the ban was introduced last December, still use them.

Some members of the opposition have said they support the idea in principle, but others argue it is an attempt to curtail freedom of speech.

Taylor told News24 he feared this was “an attempt by the government to censor social media” and that Labor should first try to plug holes in the social media ban.

Speaking to Channel Nine’s Today show, Wells said: “This isn’t about censorship. This is about identifying risks or making big tech identify the risks on their own platform and making big tech mitigate against those risks on their platform.”

Last week, high-profile consent advocate Chanel Contos gave a speech at Australia’s National Press Club calling on the government to seek an opt-in for algorithmic social media feeds, making it harder for tech firms to find a way round any reforms.

She argued algorithms were fuelling the prevalence of sexual violence in Australia and exposing young people to misogynistic “manosphere” material.

The draft legislation is expected to be introduced in the coming days. As well as addressing algorithms, it is also expected to put an onus on platforms to stop harmful content, such as illegal pornography and videos promoting disordered eating, from being shared.

In an explosive interview former paramilitary boss Adair claims he wants to get involved with groups targeting immigration.

Feared former UDA paramilitary boss Johnny “ Mad Dog” Adair wants to make a return to frontline politics to target illegal immigrants.

The move follows a series of Daily Record reports on attempts by far right groups in Scotland to team up with paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland in a bid to exploit racial tensions.

Adair now lives in Troon, Ayrshire, after being linked to dozens of sectarian killings by the Belfast C Company of the UDA that he led.

However in an explosive interview Adair claims he wants to get involved with groups targeting immigration.

He said: “The threat that is coming is not republicanism the threat is illegal immigration.

“These people will rape, they will kill, they will steal and they have no common value of life.”

He said: “Would I go back and fight for them, yes I would absolutely.

“Would I use the experience that I used back in the conflict. Yes absolutely.

“People need to stand up and counted before it is too late.”

Speaking to Glasgow street photographer Brian Anderson for his Naked City youtube channel Adair says the only thing that brings back memories of his sectarian past is the day of Old Firm games

He added: ”The pit of your stomach will go. Thankfully it’s not bombs and guns but just banter.”

Adair says he is just an ordinary person now but feels he has been tarred with the “Mad Dog” label.

He added: ”That is a name and I hate it. I had no control over that.

“Away from that horrible name I am just Johnny Adair living a quiet and peaceful life, no hassle and it’s great and I love it.

“I have got a 15 year old son and he lives with me.

“Troon is a quiet seaside town and people just accept me for who I am.

“I am just grateful and happy that someone was looking over me because there were multiple attempts on on my life and I survived every one.

“Now I don’t have to worry about things like that albeit I still take some security precautions – like checking my car for a bomb”

Though Adair was feared during the Troubles by the Northern Ireland Catholic community, he admits in the same interview that some of his best pals growing up were Catholic.

He also reveals respect for the IRA hunger strikers of the early 1980’s.

Adair explained: “When I was a young boy under the age of ten my friends were Catholics, we lived in the same streets

“There was no such thing as a religion.

“It didn’t mean anything to me that your mate is a catholic or protestant.”

Adair said things began to change around 1969 and remembers houses in his street being set on fire

He added:” I learned later that day that the people that were burned down were Catholics and some of them were my friends.

“And the same happened in other areas that were predominantly Catholic, to Protestants.

“Then the army was sent for and it the just blew out after that.

“As a kid you were seeing things you had never seen before tanks on the street and soldiers with guns.

“It was interesting for a young boy but also scary and frightening.

“The trouble exploded throughout the province and almost every area was at war with one another. Catholic and Protestant.”

Adair said he decided to join the paramilitaries in the late 1970’s.

He quickly became a target for the police and recalls having his home searched during raids for guns and explosives and being held for questioning for up to seven days at a time.

Adair also recalled the time when he was the victim of an assassination attempt while attending a UB40 concert in Belfast in 1999 with his wife and narrowly escaped with his life.

He added:”I was just out of jail and UB40 was a band that I loved.

“They shot me at point blank range.

“I thought my head was going to explode.

“The pain for that second was the worst pain I have ever experienced.

“It went in but it didn’t go through the skull but just stopped there.

“I was lucky. Had it been a half decent weapon my brains would have been everywhere.”

Adair says the attack was not the work of rival republicans but local drug dealers who saw an opportunity to kill him.

He added: ”I was the devil over there, the bogeyman.

“All Catholics would have hated me.”

Adair says one of the gun gang was later shot dead by the IRA and the man who pulled the trigger took his own life.

He now welcomes the peace process and enjoys his new life in Scotland.

Adair added: ”Until my late 30s I was involved heavily in paramilitarism and loyalism.

“When the life that I was in came to an end and peace came to Northern Ireland there was no more explosions, it was golden to me.

“There was no more hatred, everyone just getting on with life over there.

“There is an uneasy peace but it is great for both communities.

“It’s a long process and will take years. cause there is a lot of bitterness and a lot of hatred.

“For me a normal a life that I never had for most of my years.”

When asked if he ever felt a “moral debt” for what happened “under his watch”, Adair replied.”It is regrettable that the whole conflict took place.

“But I am not feeling guilty for what that I’d done or the role that I played.

“If I was to stay that to you now I would be a hypocrite.

“At the time I believed it was right.

“It is just a shame that it went on for 30 years and all those people lost their lives and people were maimed and thousands of men went to prison.”

When then asked if had ever asked forgiveness from the other side he responded: ”Maybe some dedicated republicans who were engaged the way I would have been engaged will have had begrudging respect towards me as I would have towards the IRA hunger strikers.

“Do I think they would shake my hand and forgive me, I don’t think so.”

Hear the interview in full on https://www.youtube.com/@brianandersonnakedcity

Several Acklam schools will finish early on Monday, September 7, ahead of Theo Rae’s funeral at Teesside Crematorium.

Acklam Whin Primary School and Green Lane School will close at 1.15pm after pupils receive their usual lunch.

Theo Rae, 17 and Cole Robert Worthy, 17. (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

Acklam Grange and Outwood Academy, Acklam will close at 12.15pm, while Newham Bridge Primary School will finish at 1pm.

Acklam Grange will provide more information about future possible closures on Tuesday and Wednesday.

From left to right: Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Michael Robert Cahill, 23. (Image: SOCIAL MEDIA)

The closures come days after several schools shut early for the funeral of Jakub Matusiak, another victim of the A66 crash. It follows fears of distruption.

Ray was among five men killed when their Volkswagen Passat collided with a marked Cleveland Police vehicle near South Bank on August 22.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were also killed in the crash.

Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38 (Image: CLEVELAND POLICE)

The Passat was travelling the wrong way when it collided with the police vehicle.

Schools’ decision to close early for Jakub’s funeral sparked concern, with politicians questioning why children’s education should be disrupted.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said there were “huge anxieties and worries in the community” and described the situation as a “very difficult and delicate situation”.

She said she wanted schools to stay open but trusted headteachers to protect their pupils.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “As Education Secretary, I want schools to be open. I want pupils attending schools all the time.

“And these headteachers of these small number of schools have taken a very difficult decision with the local authority and the police for the safety of their school community to close early.

“What I would say is that there are huge anxieties and worries in the communities.”

Ms Powell said she had contacted local MPs and Home Office ministers to arrange surge policing and extra resources to “calm those tensions down and to make those streets safe”.

She added: “I trust headteachers to make the judgments that they need to make to keep their school community safe. I hope this doesn’t have to happen again.”

Police at the scene of the A66 crash (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

After Jakub’s funeral on Friday, Cleveland Police said the day passed without incident and with minimal traffic disruption.

Superintendent John Wrintmore said: “Today’s events have passed without issue and very minimal traffic disruption.

“Our policing operation to ensure public safety will take the same approach next week when more funerals are taking place.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners to minimise disruption in these areas and keep the public safe.

“No schools, services or businesses have been instructed to close, and any decision to do so has been made by individual organisations after their own risk assessments.

“We would like to thank our communities for their continued cooperation and support. Our visible police presence in the area will continue throughout the week to provide reassurance and allow everyone to continue with their daily lives as normal.”

Theo’s funeral will take place at 2pm on Monday, September 7, at St Bede’s Chapel, Teesside Crematorium, on Acklam Road, Middlesbrough.

Makai Saddington’s funeral will take place on Tuesday, September 8, and Cole Worthy’s will follow at the same crematorium on Wednesday, September 9.

The funerals of the officers are also set to take place next week.

TEMASCALCINGO, Mexico (AP) — Pyrotechnic material exploded during the festival for a patron saint in a town in Mexico State, collapsing a wall, killing at least 10 people and injuring another 64, Mexican authorities said.

The explosion occurred Saturday night next to the Nuestra Señora de la Luz church in Temascalcingo, a municipality in central Mexico with 66,000 residents. Hundreds of them were preparing to watch a fireworks display that is part of a religious festival when the blast occurred.

The municipality is about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Mexico City.

The cause of the explosion has not been determined and the Mexico State Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation.

A local bishop said two priests are among the injured.

A video on social media shows the aftermath of the blast, with dozens of people walking through smoke and debris in search of survivors.

Explosions involving pyrotechnics are common in Mexico, where fireworks are frequently used in street celebrations and religious festivals. Almost four years ago, a powerful fireworks explosion in a village in the municipality of Huejutla, in the central state of Hidalgo, left 17 people injured.

Sixty years on and hit with an engine penalty, Antonelli began Sunday’s contest virtually at the back. But the 20-year-old phenomenon capitalised on an explosive new power unit, a favourable strategy, and a demonstration of passing excellence, to see off a crestfallen Russell by passing him for the lead with just three laps left.

There’s a way to avoid your bin ending up halfway down your road on bin day

We’ve all had that annoying moment of realising our bin has been left halfway down the round, rather than outside our home after bin day. But now, the reason for this has been explained by a binman.

Ashley, a refuse collector known as The No1 Binman, has more than 200,000 followers on TikTok where he regularly shares advice from behind the wheel of a bin lorry.

Highlighting the one error homeowners are making, he explained: “It’s probably because you ain’t got your number on your lid.

“No point putting it on the side cause you can’t always see it. You want to be able to see it no matter where you’re looking, you can always see the top of the bin.”

How to get binmen to put your bins back

Adding a label to the lid, with your number, or house name, will ensure that the binmen know just which house each bin has come from and can return it without any confusion.

“Then the binmen will put your bin outside your house, as long as you have a good binman.”

Although not everyone was convinced, with one TikTok user commenting: “My number is on the lid and it’s always 4 or 5 houses up the road. It not really an issue, I just collect it. Why are people so lazy, the extra steps will do us good.”

While another added: “Mine has always been on the front name and street, never had an issue.”

More binman advice

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Ashley previously settled the debate on placing black bin bags in recycling bins, clarifying that this is something you should never do, or risk your waste being rejected.

He said: “Put it all in loose. Do not put anything in a bag in your recycling bin because it has got a chance of being contaminated and they won’t take it.”

Elsewhere, Ashley also explained just how to dispose of used up batteries, and whether they can be placed in your regular rubbish bin.

He told the BBC: “Do not put vapes or batteries in any bin. You can take them to B&Q or the vape shop you bought them from, and they’re meant to dispose of them themselves.”

While it may seem harmless to leave batteries in your bin for collection, doing so can pose a significant fire risk to refuse lorries. Ashley adds: “I’ve had this before — and I’m not sure if it’s a battery or a vape — the back of a lorry started smoking.”

The family of convicted killer Karmelo Anthony is seeking an additional $250,000 in donations on top of the roughly $634,000 already raised, despite questions about how previous funds were spent and the fact that his attorneys are working pro bono.

Anthony’s family and legal team held a press conference in Dallas on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after a judge denied his request for a new trial.  

Anthony, who was 17 at the time, claimed he acted in self-defense when he stabbed fellow 17-year-old Austin Metcalf in the heart at a Texas high school track meet on April 2, 2025. 

The case shocked America, with the killing of a white teenager by a black peer quickly becoming a flashpoint in debates over race, politics and privilege.

A previous fundraiser collected hundreds of thousands before it was taken down after a jury rejected Anthony’s self-defense claim and convicted him of murder. Anthony, now 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison on June 9.

The Daily Mail previously revealed that Anthony’s family relocated to a $900,000 home in an exclusive neighborhood after allegedly receiving threats at their former residence. 

The family used the $515,000 raised in April 2025 to support ‘the safe relocation of the Anthony family due to escalating threats to their safety and well-being, as well as basic living costs, transportation, counseling, and other security measures,’ according to the previous GiveSendGo description. 

Despite the conviction, his parents have vowed to continue fighting for their son.

Anthony was found guilty of murdering Austin Metcalf on June 9 and subsequently sentenced to 35 years in prison

‘We love you, son. We’re going to keep fighting. And this is not over,’ Anthony’s father, Andrew Anthony, said. 

To fund the appeal, the Karmelo Anthony Legal Fund was launched and has already raised more than $30,000.

‘All contributions will be deposited directly into an attorney trust account administered by lead attorney Russell Wilson. Karmelo’s family will not receive, control, or spend these funds,’ the GiveSendGo page states.

‘Contributions will be used solely for legal expenses, briefs and filings, transcripts, investigators, experts, and other necessary litigation costs.’

Anthony’s attorneys said the appeals process could stretch into 2027.

During the press conference, NBC 5 questioned the legal team about how the previous donations had been spent. Dominique Alexander, president of NGAN, declined to answer.

‘We’re not gonna comment on that. We don’t know all of the information regarding those different fees,’ Alexander said.

Anthony’s lawyers later said his legal expenses have exceeded $300,000.

Anthony admitted stabbing Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco but maintained that he acted in self-defense. 

To fund the appeal, the Karmelo Anthony Legal Fund was launched and has already raised more than $30,000

Anthony’s parents have spoken out, claiming he did not get a fair trial and vowed to ‘keep fighting’

The jury rejected that argument and also declined to convict him on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

After roughly three hours of deliberations, jurors found Anthony guilty of murder and sentenced him to over three decades in prison.

Following the conviction, Anthony’s parents argued their son did not receive a fair trial and vowed to appeal.

Two months later, Anthony assembled a new six-lawyer legal team, which has argued that his rights were violated during the proceedings.

Judge Roach, who presided over the trial, was later removed from the case after Anthony’s attorneys argued that he imposed overly strict courtroom rules and gave an interview after the trial concluded.

Roach sat for an 18-minute interview with WFAA in Dallas, during which he said he had followed the law ‘to a T’ and acknowledged that the trial ‘started off bad.’

He also said he was ‘ticked’ when AI-generated images falsely claiming to depict scenes from inside the courtroom began circulating online. Cameras and photography were prohibited during the proceedings.

After Anthony’s murder trial, the judge who presided over the case released a trove of evidence, like this image of the Memorial High School tent where the stabbing happened on April 2, 2025

Defense attorney Russell Wilson argued the interview should not have taken place because Roach knew the case would be appealed.

Anthony’s supporters contend he acted in self-defense after being bullied, shoved and provoked.

Critics argue the stabbing was a disproportionate response that did not need to end in death.

Metcalf was unarmed when Anthony stabbed him in the heart.

Stacey Solomon promised to take her fans along with her as she renovates and decorates her new family home. 

And on Sunday night the presenter, 36, began the house tour with the top floor after revealing she won’t be showing the outside of the house following ‘privacy issues’.

Taking to Instagram with the help of her daughters Rose, four, and Belle, three, Stacey revealed the top floor of the house, which is only accessible via a ladder. 

The star then showed fans the spacious bedrooms which are all painted yellow and fitted with fireplaces which would have been used to store coal. 

The upstairs also featured a bathroom decorated with orange tiles as Stacey exclaimed: ‘I love the orange bath!’ 

Yet Stacey and her family were also overjoyed to find the previous tenants had left a lot of quirky items behind in the store room. 

Enjoying a treasure hunt with her children she uncovered a vintage tennis racket, old film camera, riding hat and set of dominoes. 

The upstairs featured a bathroom decorated with orange tiles as Stacey exclaimed: ‘I love the orange bath!’

Taking fans on the tour she began: ‘We’ll start from the top and work our way down. We have to use the ladder at the moment. 

‘So there’s some bedrooms up here. This one, this little bedroom, they’ve all got little fireplaces in. They’re not real fireplaces. They’re where the coal used to go. 

‘This is a bathroom. And why do I love the orange bath stuff? I don’t know. I’m going to do something with that.’

She continued: ‘This room’s got a TV from my childhood in it. They left quite a bit of stuff behind… so we rooted through the boxes. I don’t think they ever came up here. I think it was just used as storage. So we had a treasure hunt.’

Discovering the film projector, her dad joked: ‘Stacey thinks this is a gun.’

‘I was like, “Oh my gosh, is there a gun here?”‘ teased Stacey. ‘Dave got really excited because it’s an old camera, and it still works.’

She captioned the vlog: ‘Come with us… starting from the top & working the way down. Here’s us exploring and finding some treasures that the last people left behind. 

‘I need your opinion. Is that orange bath suite nice? Because I love it & Can someone tell me what these dominos are made of please.

‘And whether I should keep that 80s TV because it actually makes me feel so happy & nostalgic when I look at it.’

On Saturday Stacey admitted it ‘feels strange’ waking up in a new home after she revealed the family have moved out of their £1.3million Pickle Cottage. 

And after many much-loved years at Pickle Cottage, Stacey shared a second glimpse of their new house on Saturday but explained she won’t be showing the outside of it for privacy reasons. 

Taking to her Instagram Story on Saturday morning, Stacey posted a snap of her daughter Rose in a bare living room which featured an ornate white painted fireplace. 

She penned: ‘Happy Saturday. Feels so strange not waking up in pickle cottage but so excited taking it all in & wondering what to do with this place.’ 

The star showed fans the spacious bedrooms which are all painted yellow and fitted with fireplaces which would have been used to store coal

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Taking fans on the tour she began: ‘We’ll start from the top and work our way down. We have to use the ladder at the moment’

Yet Stacey and her family were also overjoyed to find the previous tenants had left a lot of quirky items behind in the store room

One of the top rooms was full of boxes and items left by the previous tenants 

Enjoying a treasure hunt with her children she uncovered a vintage tennis racket, old film camera, riding hat and set of dominoes

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The fireplace featured black and white marble while the white painted wallpaper suggested the couple’s new home is a lot grander than their previous cottage. 

Giving fans an update she wrote: ‘I can’t wait to properly have some days off work & show you all around…. I’m not going to show the outside of the house this time around. 

‘Just for security and privacy reasons… we had some issues at pickle cottage in the end & it’s safer to just not show the building itself.’  

She continued: ‘I am so excited though to take you into the rooms & get inspiration from you all. There’s so much to think about & so many fun things to do. I will need help with this project because it is huge. I need all your tips, tricks and ideas! 

‘I’m going to really take my time and live here and work out what to do with each room because I don’t want to rush it!

‘But I can’t tell you how excited I am to sink my teeth into this project with you all.’ 

On Friday, the TV presenter, 36, and her husband Joe Swash, 44, took to Instagram to share a photo of the family on their new doorstep as she captioned the post: ‘Home is wherever I’m with you… Pickle Project, Here We Go.’ 

Stacey and Joe revealed they had decided to move out of their beloved home after falling in love with the new property, which is surrounded by acres of land.

Stacey told her followers her chickens, ducks and bee hive have all successfully travelled over to their new home.

The Loose Women presenter said she has plans to build a huge vegetable garden and rescue more animals. 

It was previously revealed back in June the couple had fallen in love with the eight-bedroom Victorian mansion.

The property comes with a pool, sprawling gardens and enough bedrooms for all their children. 

On Friday, the presenter, 36, and her husband Joe Swash, 44, shared a photo of the family on their new doorstep as she wrote: ‘Home is wherever I’m with you… Pickle Project, Here We Go’ 

On Saturday Stacey admitted it ‘feels strange’ waking up in a new home after she revealed the family have moved out of their £1.3million Pickle Cottage 

They are proud parents to Rex, seven, Rose, four, and Belle, three. Stacey is also mother to sons Zachary, 18 and Leighton, 14, while Joe is father to his son Harry, 19, from a previous relationship. 

Joe said the property will be a huge renovation project for the queen of DIY.

‘We are leaving and moving out of Pickle Cottage imminently, which I never thought I’d say,’ she explained in an emotional video on Instagram.

Revealing why they kept the move under wraps, Stacey said: ‘Leaving Pickle Cottage was a massive decision for us, we had a lot of people we needed to speak to, we needed to get the kids around to the idea and speak to all our friends and neighbours in the area.

‘We have just waited until someone amazing came along and fell in love with the cottage.’

She continued: ‘Pickle Cottage is our dream house, as soon as we moved here we fell in love with it and I still love it so, so much. It’s a really special place to us. I gave birth to both of the girls there, we got married there, it’s just so special to us.

‘But for a little while we have always wanted to rescue more animals, grow more vegetables so we have always been thinking if there was ever a chance to get a bit more land then we would consider it.

‘We saw somewhere and I was like, we could have a massive vegetable patch and we could offer our land to animals who need it and stuff like that. We could bring the horses back there, the ponies, and we went to see it and we fell in love.

‘It wasn’t an easy decision, we built our lives together at Pickle Cottage but now we have found somewhere where we can see our family growing and really flourishing and this is the place.

‘So it’s time to say goodbye to Pickle Cottage which feels so weird and basically move across to our new chapter.

‘It’s a project, we’re moving somewhere really really different and it does need a lot of love and I’m excited to do that all again.’

Ciara excitedly announced that she is expecting her fifth child and fourth with NFL superstar husband Russell Wilson. 

The 40-year-old songstress jumped to her main Instagram page on Sunday to share the big news while also unveiling her growing baby bump to her followers. 

The music artist and Wilson are already parents to Sienna, nine, Win, six, and Amora, two. Ciara also shares her eldest child Future Zahir, 12, with rapper Future from their previous relationship. 

Her latest post included a clip that began to pan over white shirts hanging from a clothesline outside underneath the warm sun. 

Ciara was then seen hanging a small onesie at the very end as the camera gave a glimpse at her baby bump. 

She wore a white tank top and a pair of low-waisted denim jeans while her locks were placed in curlers. 

The songstress songstress jumped to her main Instagram page on Sunday to share the big news; The couple seen in February in San Francisco 

Ciara then turned towards the camera while flashing a big smile and held up five fingers. 

Another slide showed the singer posing next to the clothesline with the four shirts displaying the names of her children. 

The onesie was left blank on the front as she held it up while posing for a lighthearted picture. 

Wilson also filmed himself strolling past the line of shirts as he approached his wife, and the pair cozied up together for the sweet selfie video. 

Ciara paused for more photos while standing outside in a spacious backyard and at one point, rested her hands on her stomach. 

In the caption of the Instagram carousel, the Level Up songstress penned: ‘One more person to Love.’ 

Daily Mail has reached out to reps for Ciara for comment, but has yet to hear back. 

Social media users and celebrities flocked to the comment section to offer their congratulations to Ciara and Wilson. 

 She unveiled her growing baby bump to her followers

The music artist and Wilson are already parents to Sienna, nine, Win, six, and Amora, two

Her latest post included a clip that began to pan over white shirts hanging from a clothesline outside underneath the warm sun

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Ciara then turned towards the camera while flashing a big smile and held up five fingers

She wore a white tank top and a pair of low-waisted denim jeans while her locks were placed in curlers

Another slide showed the singer posing next to the clothesline with the four shirts displaying the names of her children

Wilson also filmed himself strolling past the line of shirts as he approached his wife, and the pair cozied up together for the sweet selfie video

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In the caption of the Instagram carousel, the Level Up songstress penned: ‘One more person to Love’

La La Anthony wrote, ‘Another beautiful blessing!!! More to love!!! Making space over at Auntie La’s house. love my family. I’m just over here cheesing so hard. CINCO!!!’

Rapper Latto typed, ‘Congrats Ci,’ followed by a red heart emoji while comedian Jessie Woo added, ‘When God said to be fruitful and multiply, yall took that PERSONALLY!!! congratulations.’ 

Kehlani penned, ‘he was never playing a single game w u,’ and Nicole Scherzinger said, ‘Omggg congratulations.’ 

Singer Major Girl shared, ‘Congratulations..that’s a lil boy there…,’ while iHeartRadio added, ‘OMGGGGG SO EXCITED!!!’

Back in July, Wilson had expressed his hopes to welcome another baby with wife Ciara. 

The couple tied the knot in 2016 during a romantic ceremony at Peckforton Castle in England. 

‘We have four amazing kids and I’m trying to convince Ciara to have a fifth,’ the sports star told E! News. ‘Cinco, you got to be on the way soon.’

He added, ‘I want to have five, Ciara does too. We’ll see. Hopefully, I can convince her.’  

Social media users and celebrities flocked to the comment section to offer their congratulations to Ciara and Wilson

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‘We have four amazing kids and I’m trying to convince Ciara to have a fifth,’ the sports star told E! News. ‘Cinco, you got to be on the way soon’

Ciara has previously opened up about motherhood and balancing her entertainment career simultaneously, calling it ‘organized chaos.’ 

‘I am a big believer in having some kind of schedule, especially for kids,’ the singer told USA Today last year. 

‘Having them on sleep schedules and having order for them because they function so much better when they have an idea of what’s happening and what to expect, for the most part.’ 

The star added that when it comes to parenting, ‘there is no perfect way to do it.’

She later said having Wilson as a partner is ‘a blessing.’ 

‘We are tag teaming on how to make the world better for our kids,’ Ciara further told the outlet. 

Ciara has previously opened up about motherhood and balancing her entertainment career simultaneously, calling it ‘organized chaos’

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Back in June, Wilson announced his retirement from the NFL after a 14-year professional career

‘And from a love perspective, that actually brings us closer because you are kind of doing everything together, and that is kind of sweet.’ 

Back in June, Wilson announced his retirement from the NFL after a 14-year professional career. 

Ciara soon shared a sweet tribute to her husband on social media and wrote, ‘The best in the world! There’s only one, 3!

‘Always so proud of you! It’s a true blessing to go on this journey with you! My greatest inspiration! I love you so much!’