The R Family Feature

The R Family: The Life of YouTubers

YouTube is a crazy platform where almost anyone can be creative, and The R Family is one of those earning a living from their videos.

The everyday life of The R Family is extraordinary compared that of the citizens of Mossley, a small parish town outside of Manchester.

The R Family film their everyday lives and give over 3,000 subscribers the opportunity an insight of their everyday tasks.

It all happened after their kids asked them to start uploading videos, so they gave it a shot. They had nothing to lose by seeing if they enjoyed it.

Since they have started uploading videos, they have gained over 3,000 subscribers and their children now have YouTube channels themselves.

Dave and Sarah Ravenscroft are parents to nine children ranging from ages 3 – 19 and not only do they make money from YouTube, they also have multiple businesses including being photographers and selling 3D printed merchandise.

When I sat down with Sarah, the hectic life of being a YouTuber was revealed to me.

“We upload videos every day to YouTube but the most important part of our day is to focus on the children”.

“Vlogging often happens when the kids are in school, and then at night time when the children have done their homework, we also do live streams or we edit what we have filmed in that day”.

“Having a camera in front of our faces everyday was a learning curve, but you get used to it. But the rewards have been amazing and it’s great that in the future you can look back at the great memories”.

However, when uploading videos day in day out, things can become too overwhelming and problems that happen outside of YouTube are sometimes a reason to stop uploading.

“One of the hardest things that’s happened is that my eldest daughter had a miscarriage and we decided to take a break for a couple of days. However, we realised YouTube then gives us a platform to talk about it. Our viewers were really supportive during this time and gave us something to focus on”.

Whilst uploading to YouTube every day, Dave and Sarah are also photographers. They have their own studio and have important roles in making memories for clients.

“I’m obsessed with taking pictures and it has always been a passion of mine. I am still learning as time goes on, but I think I want to do this forever”.

For most people, wedding days are the most important day of their lives and something everyone wants to be perfect. One element of that special day is the photographer, and Sarah and Dave are often hired to be a part of that.

“You are capturing the most important day of their lives and being in the middle of it makes me smile. Photos are one of the key parts of the wedding, creating and capturing memories that clients will be able to look at many years later”.

The R Family are not just the only successful YouTube channel from the Greater Manchester Region, Tom Cassell (TheSyndicateProject) has combined 12.5 million subscribers over two channels, Phil Lester (AmazingPhil) has over 8 million subscribers over three channels and Adam Lyne (MyNameIsB0aty) who has over 310,000 subscribers on two channels.

Even though these channels have millions of subscribers and views, YouTubers are still something new and fresh to the citizens of our local towns.

“We would love for millions of subscribers and views, but the small community of fans that we have are brilliant”.

“We are not bothered about views; it’s just about making memories”.

Editing videos are one of the hardest tasks for anyone creating a video and Sarah gives that task to her husband, Dave.

“It takes up a lot of time, which can be stressful, but uploading is easy if the internet is fast enough”.

“We’ve had times where we have been unable to upload due to the Wi-Fi, some viewers get annoyed but most of our fans are very understanding”.

“If there are any aspiring YouTubers out there, Wi-Fi is essential for your channel. Make sure the upload and download speeds are good enough”.