Billy's Story

Louise Allen was a foster child who underwent an unspeakably tough childhood with cruel foster-parents in the 1970s who then adopted her and continued the abuse. She managed to escape at the age of fifteen but found herself in a new city with no money and no friends or family. Eventually her skills in painting and drawing and her determination not to let her childhood define her were what helped her forge a healthy adult life. She firmly believes that there is hope for all children who have been abused and that children who experience trauma can go on to have good lives. Now happily married with her own children, she also fosters children herself and works hard doing what she can to right the wrongs still being perpetrated against foster children. She has appeared on BBC's Front Row, Saturday Live, That's Life, Loose Women and This Morning. Her bestselling memoir, Thrown Away Child, was the start of her work as a campaigner for the rights of children in care. This led to a further book series, the Sunday Times bestselling Thrown Away Children titles, which tells the stories of some of the children she has fostered and their often heartbreaking pasts. Her guide to adoption, How to Adopt a Child, was published in 2021, and a new series exposing the County Lines scandal, Slave Girls, is forthcoming in 2025. Louise is also the founder of the charity Spark Sisterhood which creates employment pathways, mentoring programmes, a community and online learning platform for girls in - and leaving - care. For more information, to donate or volunteer, please visit www.sparksisterhood.org.