Louise
Allen

About Louise

Louise is the award-winning author behind the bestselling Thrown Away Children series. Her stories draw from the lived experience of being part of a foster family. Her brand-new series, Slave Girls, continues her mission to share the real, often unheard stories of children and young people, with courage, honesty and hope. The series looks unflinchingly at trafficking, sexual exploitation and county lines, and why the focus on girls matters: even now, county lines is still seen as a boys' problem, when in reality these girls are groomed, coerced and threatened, often with no way out. Louise understands this world first hand, and she speaks openly about how the gaps between the agencies meant to protect children create the very opportunities that exploitation and abuse depend on.

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Louise founded Spark Sisterhood, a community where girls from care were met with friendship and essential life and employment skills, encouraged to believe in themselves and their futures. One of the charity's most exciting projects was Care to Career, a two-week programme offering girls jobs, apprenticeships and work experience through partnerships with employers, supporting young women aged 18–25. It was about more than just finding a job, it was about creating space for young women to thrive. Like so many small grassroots charities, Spark Sisterhood closed as funding became increasingly difficult to sustain, but the work isn't over. Louise is already developing a new project to carry that mission forward.

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At the heart of everything Louise does is a belief in the power of real-life stories. Through the marketing agency, We Are Louise, she helps founders, charities, and mission-led companies connect more deeply with their audiences through branding, content, and campaigns that are built with empathy and purpose. Whether it's supporting a small charity or reshaping how we talk about foster care, We Are Louise brings clarity, heart and strategy to every project.

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Having grown up in care and now fostering children herself, Louise understands the care system from the inside out, giving her a unique 360° understanding. She is a respected and leading voice, and her work is now focused on changing the conversation around fostering and adoption in the UK, challenging the fear-led culture, the lack of collaboration between agencies, and the reliance on legislation to drive change. Instead, she's advocating for honest dialogue, practical solutions, and a shared commitment to putting children and carers first.

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Louise now works alongside Dr Sally-Anne Tommy, a leading voice in trauma responsiveness. Together they've combined their skills and knowledge to create the Nine Colours of the Nervous System, a training programme for anyone who works with children and young people, helping them understand how our nervous systems really work. It's built to be done once: powerful, practical and easy to understand, giving carers and professionals a lasting shift in how they see and respond to the children in their care.

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Louise also co-hosts Foster Care Uncovered with Sarah Anderson, a podcast that sits in the top 10% most listened to globally. Together they talk openly about the realities of fostering, from recruitment and culture to the systemic pressures carers face every day, bringing the same honesty to audio that Louise brings to her books.