A YOUNG worker fresh from university has written a powerful open letter through The Northern Echo to all our major political leaders with one, simple message on behalf of young people struggling on the dole and in part-time jobs: “Don’t forget about us.”

Gary Metcalfe, 23, tells the party political leaders of his frustration that “none of you seem to represent – or even notice – young people in similar situations to myself ”.

County Durham graduate Mr Metcalfe explained university has left him with nearly £20,000 of debt and he is already prepared to give up on his dream of working in the broadcast media after applying for 126 jobs without success.

Living with his parents in Wheatley Hill, Mr Metcalfe, who was just one percentage point off earning a First in his broadcast media degree from Sunderland University, has also gained NVQ qualifications in engineering in an effort to win a career.

However, he describes himself as one of the lucky ones after securing a part-time job as a sales assistant in Next in Durham City.

He is not the only young person struggling in his search for unemployment, according to several government reports. About 50,000 young people in the North East are available for employment but have no work at all – that’s about a quarter of all 16 to 24-year-olds.

This figure comes from an Office for National Statistics report published in 201,4 but referring to figures from the previous year, which showed the North East had the worst youth unemployment rate in the country.

The overall unemployment rate has improved since then but research conducted by the House of Commons Library for the Labour Party, and published this February, showed that the national youth unemployment figure was nearly three times higher than that for the population overall, at 14.4 per cent compared to 5.7 per cent. The most up-to-date figures show youth unemployment is still at its highest for 20 years.

Gary Metcalfe considers himself lucky because he has some work as a shop assistant while about 50,000 young North-Easterners have no work at all. Here the well-qualified graduate from Wheatley Hill tells his story and asks the nation’s politicians to remember the thousands like him.

WHEN I wrote my letter, I didn’t want it to sound ungrateful. I know lots of others have it worse than me. After all, I have a job and a supportive family.

But I can’t pretend I am not frustrated. I have applied for 126 jobs since graduating from Sunderland University and I had applied for a good many more before I left.

At first they were all in the media and I had great hopes.

I just missed out on a First in my degree in Broadcast Journalism and had chalked up a lot of work experience, but paid work was much harder to find, even in London. I am from an ordinary background and can only do unpaid work for so long.

Of course, I always knew the media world would be hard to break into and I trained in other areas as I built up a student debt of nearly £20,000 despite choosing to stay close to home to keep the costs down. At one stage I was listed as a “gifted student” for engineering and I have NVQs. I also took up German and earned a 2:1 in my university module.

I’m not as fussed any more about what work I do: I just want to do something of which I can be proud. But a lot of companies don’t even reply to your application.

It’s not that I don’t like working in retail, but it’s an issue being classed as a “worker” and not an “employee” because you don’t get the same rights. I am grateful for being in employment, but with limited hours and low pay, I feel that I am unable to progress in life.

There’s plenty with no work at all. I visited friends down south in Kent, where you’d think there’d be more work, but they are in exactly the same position as myself. Others have gone to Asia, Australia and New Zealand in the search for work. It’s such a shame they can’t find work in our own country.

I aspire to one day own property and to create a family life, as do many of my friends, but with uncertain future employment what hope is there of fulfilling these dreams? I do not feel this is too much to ask from any elected government, but for many of us it is starting to feel unobtainable.

If only I’d done an apprenticeship, I’d have a better chance of a job. I am sure a lot more young people will vote this time. A lot of us have been almost forced to care.

But none of the parties talk about real jobs for young people. I’m not just talking about university graduates. The Labour Party talks a lot about apprenticeships, but those of us now in our 20s are too young to be forgotten. That’s all we’re asking for from our leaders: not to be forgotten, for some hope... or at least to be mentioned.

Dear David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage,

In the run-up to the election, I am finding it increasingly frustrating that none of the parties seem to represent, or even notice, many of the young people in similar situations to myself.

I graduated from university, not expecting to achieve a career straightaway, but I never imagined the struggles it would take to even find a partially decent job. I applied for university hoping to start a professional career, but instead I find myself almost unemployable. Many of graduates have found ourselves limited to zero hour contracts and labelled as workers rather than employees, a simple but significant difference. I have applied for more than 100 jobs and find myself limited to part time retail positions with no prospects of change.

I believe it is a great shame that many skilled young people are forced to leave the country in order to create a life for themselves.