Failed Job Hunt Ends in Overdose at 21

A young woman who had left school with ten GCSEs and three A levels apparently killed herself because she felt “humiliated” when she could not get a job.

Vicky Harrison, 21, spent two years looking for work but with no success. The day after receiving yet another letter saying that she had failed in her application and interview for a job, this time at a nursery, she took an overdose of pills, her family said.

She left a note to them which read: “I don’t want to be me any more. Please don’t be sad. It is not your fault. I want everybody in my life to be happy.”

The case comes the day after unemployment rose to a 16-year high of 2.5 million.

Miss Harrison’s mother, Louise, said: “She kept asking me why things weren’t working out for her. I think she had so many knock-backs that it affected her confidence and it is no wonder that she was not getting jobs when she was so lacking in confidence.”

Her father, Tony, said: “In the end it obviously got her down to such a point that she felt she had no future. It shouldn’t have been like that. She had a lot to give and was very determined.”

Describing their daughter as “wonderful and bubbly”, they said she was struggling to get by on Jobseeker’s allowance and felt she was losing touch with her friends because she could not afford to go out with them. Mrs Harrison added: “But also she was humiliated that she couldn’t find work. It was an embarrassing situation for her.”

Miss Harrison, from Darwen, Lancashire, had ten GCSEs at grade A-C and three A levels at grade B-D, but could not find work after dropping out of university in her first year.

She was due to sign-on at the Jobcentre the next morning. More than 270 people have posted tributes to her on Facebook, the social networking website. Now the family, along with her boyfriend Nathan Haworth, hope to set up a charity or foundation in her name to provide support for the thousands of young people who struggle with being unemployed.

New figures show that there are more than 4,000 young people claiming Jobseeker’s allowance in East Lancashire, up about 48 per cent since the country went into recession.

The family said that Miss Harrison left three suicide notes, one each for her mother, father and boyfriend. They said she had no history of depression but had become upset at her lack of success in the jobs market. She had applied for about a dozen jobs a week, which included shop work, waitressing and being a school dinner lady. Her father said he found her in the sitting room of her disabled mother’s home on March 31. She was surrounded by pill packs and tablet bottles.

Mr Harrison said: “She was such a gorgeous girl and had a stunning smile. She was clever too. There was no reason why she shouldn’t have been able to find a job.”

Miss Harrison met her boyfriend more than three years ago on a night out in Blackburn where Mr Haworth, 22, lives. He said he had lost his “soulmate” and added: “We want to start a group where we can raise awareness for people who are struggling like Vicky was. It needs to be a place where people can talk and understand that it is not the end of the world.”

Vicky’s funeral took place last week at Darwen Masonic Hall.
A full inquest is set for next month.