Media
You can delve deeper into my journey and insights by exploring my story and interviews here. I am an artist, and I find solace and purpose in art. When I began writing, reflecting on my past and the experiences of others initially seemed to divert me from my artistic path. However, I realized that these encounters are transformative, blending life and art seamlessly—akin to alchemy. Life itself is a canvas and a blank page, waiting to be painted or written on with our unique stories and experiences.
BBC Radio 4 – Radical with Amol Rajan
Children in Care: How to Fix the Fostering Crisis
As the government prepares to introduce a strategy to boost fostering in England, Amol speaks to foster carer and author Louise Allen about the crisis in the system and what it will take to fix it.
​
At the end of March 2024 there were 83,630 children in care in England, of whom 56,390 were being fostered, but there is a shortfall of around 6,000 foster carers nationwide.
In this episode Louise explains why we need to be more honest about the realities of caring for often vulnerable kids and focus on retaining foster carers rather than recruiting new ones.
She also explains why there needs to be more practical support like providing a cleaner for every fostering household so that they can focus on emotionally supporting the children in their care.
BBC Radio 4 – Radical with Amol Rajan
What Does It Take To Be A Foster Carer?
(Your Radical Questions with Louise Allen)
Louise Allen answers your questions about the rewards and challenges of being a foster carer.
She also discusses reports that a new government strategy will back a scheme that helps foster carers expand their properties to give more young people a home.
Thrown Away Child – Award Winning Film
Failed by a care system that continuously ignored evidence of the abuse she suffered as a child, Louise was ultimately saved by her determination to escape home and become an artist.
Fifty years later, the award-winning film Thrown Away Child, based on her life in care, explores how her case slipped through the cracks — and how she now uses her past to fight for the rights of looked-after children.​
Password, if requested: TAC123
BBC Radio 4 – Front Row
Art in response to trauma: Louise Allen & Maude Julien
Louise Allen and Maude Julien discuss their memoirs — Thrown Away Child and The Only Girl in the World, respectively — in which they reflect on their abusive childhoods and how art and literature provided a lifeline during very dark times.
ITV – This Morning
Beaten by my mother... but I still love her
Adopted in 1968 when she was just six weeks old, Louise was expected to find sanctuary, a family, and a future in her new mother’s loving care. But her adoptive mother turned out to be a deeply disturbed woman with a horrific past of her own.
BBC Radio 4 – Saturday Live
It really dawned on me I was not safe
Artist and writer Louise Allen on running away from her abusive adoptive mother.
The Purpose Playbook
Louise Allen: Award winning author and CEO of Sparksisterhood.org
Louise’s journey is one of extraordinary resilience, having overcome a traumatic childhood in the care system to become a bestselling author, campaigner, and foster carer. She shares her remarkable story of survival, self-discovery, and the work she now does to support young women leaving care.
Secure The Insecure – Book Club Podcast
My father was a paedophile and my mother was 12 when she was groomed by him
On this episode you will hear from foster carer Louise Allen who opens up about being bought up through the care system and how she changed her life around to being a foster carer. Louise is the writer of the Thrown Away Children series.