'Unwanted and unloved - but I'm determined to give kids better'

A POTENT mix of rebellion and vulnerability places children in care at an extraordinarily high risk of going missing.

- JACKIE ANNETT

“Unwanted, unloved and uncared for” are the poignant words used by artist, author and advocate for foster children Louise Allen to describe her own feelings as a child in care.

With 1 in 10 children in the care system disappearing, compared to 1 in 200 children raised outside it, the charity Missing People emphasises that while each case is unique, many kids are unhappy in their foster homes. However, with 75,000 of the 170,000 people who vanish in the UK every year being children, the figures are deeply concerning.

In a chat with The Mirror, Somerset-based Louise Allen, pictured inset, now 58, reflects on her own challenging upbringing. Raised in care during the 1970s, Louise found herself trafficking heroin from Oxford to London, before absconding from home at the tender age of 15.

“1 was just 14 when me and some other girls started shifting heroin from Oxford to London,” she remembers. “It wasn’t roadmen who ran the county lines back then, but rockabillies, who preyed on vulnerable children. We would carry packages in small army canvas bags adorned with anarchy badges and simply hand over the packages for cash, before hopping on the train back and heading to the pub. I didn’t understand the consequences. It only became scary when one of the girls was sexually abused by one of the rockabillies in front of us, and we couldn't do anything about it. When you grow up in an abusive environment, you often see the world very differently to others - you don't get scared easily.”