Former Leeds Rhino player says opening home to foster children is 'best thing we've ever done'

Aimee Staveley, 36, retired from rugby league in 2023 but has been fostering alongside wife Kirsty, 34,with Orange Grove Foster Care in Leeds since 2021.

For the first year since they started, the couple is without any foster children this Christmas time but are ready and waiting should a child need somewhere to call home in the next week which could be an emergency placement or someone in need of a long-term home.

In 2023 Aimee and Kirsty welcomed two brothers who had never celebrated Christmas before into their home with just five days to go until Christmas Day.

Aimee said: “Our foster sons at this time were Muslim and from Guinea, so for them Christmas was an entirely new experience. We checked in with their social worker and parents to make sure they were happy for us to share Christmas celebrations with them and when they all said yes we got ready to make their first Christmas really special.”

Kirsty added: “We didn’t really know what they were into at that time so we just got lots of different bits and pieces to make it work for them. They’d never experienced Christmas or received presents but with everyone coming round and all the gifts they were so excited and just wanted to get involved.”

The couple has enjoyed learning about faith and culture during their time as foster parents and finds it a fun and interesting way to get to know the children in their care.

Aimee said: “It might sound strange to some people, but mixing two cultures has just become normal life for us. Across faith, culture, and nationality, the magic of Christmas is just the same and all our foster children have only ever wanted to be included.

”“We’ve found that sharing religious holidays teaches you a lot and really opens your eyes, and we just embrace it,” added Kirsty, “We became like any other blended family and it’s been lovely for all of us and we just want to make it special for all the children we care for.”

Earlier this year Aimee and Kirsty welcomed their own baby into the world and see fostering and parenting as their new way of life with Aimee giving up her professional sporting career, freeing up the time she felt was needed to foster.

The couple say they ‘fully commit’ to every child and were inspired to start a Christmas tradition after watching a documentary on foster care.Aimee said: “The foster parents we saw put butterflies in their garden which all represented a child that had been in their care and I thought I’d really love to do something similar.“

So we get a Christmas decoration made each year with the names of all the people in our house and that goes on the tree and we add a new one to that each year, so we always remember and celebrate the children who’ve been with us before. It’s a lovely reminder.”

Children enter the care system all year round, including at Christmas and more foster parents are urgently needed to provide safe and loving homes.Kirsty said: “It can be quite scary to take the jump because fostering is definitely challenging and it’s a really unique thing to do, there’s nothing like it.“

But I just think, you’re going to be able to give a little bit of happiness to a child and potentially change things for them forever. “I always try to put myself in their shoes and think about the difference a loving family home could make to them and then I thought right that’s it, we’ve got to do it, and honestly, it’s the best thing we’ve ever done.”

The Orange Grove team is inviting anyone interested in fostering one of the 9,270 children in care in Yorkshire to get in touch via the website or by calling 0800 098 4150.