A woman
targeted by a hate petition signed by 200 school bullies telling her to
kill herself because she was 'ugly' has fought back - as a campaigning
beauty queen.
Hollie
Robinson, 22, was kicked, punched and verbally abused every day at high
school for nearly two years from the age of eleven.
She spent lunchtimes hiding in the school toilets, was physically sick
each morning before leaving home and suffered panic attacks on the
school run. Continue reading to see more pics
Then and now: Hollie aged 11 (left), when the bullying began; and Hollie now (right). Hollie said: 'I can't describe the hell I
went through when I was younger. I had
a big group of friends but they all just turned on me'
Bullied: Hollie Robinson, 22, was kicked,
punched and verbally abused every day at school for nearly two years but
she's turned her life around and gone on to become a beauty queen and
set up an Anti-bullying scheme
Playground
bullies taunted her as 'ugly' and Hollie said she contemplated suicide
on a daily basis after being made to feel 'worthless'.
At
one point she received a horrifying email which was a petition with 200
signatures calling for her to kill herself. Hollie recalled that the
first line of the petition read: 'Who thinks Hollie Robinson should
kill herself?'.
But after being scouted at a clothes show when she was 17 Hollie's
confidence grew and she emerged from her nightmare by winning a series
of beauty pageants.
She is now is setting up her own online beauty pageant called Miss
Anti-Bullying to raise awareness and money for the Beat Bullying
charity.
Hollie
said: 'I can't describe the hell I went through when I was younger.
When I started secondary school, I had a big group of friends but all of
a sudden they just turned on me.
Winner: Hollie Robinson, pictured at Miss West
Lancashire 2011 the Miss England Finals, which she says helped her
overcome the years of bullying she suffered as a schoolgirl
'It
grew worse and worse and soon I was the girl who everyone bullied. The
other kids would call me ugly and say I was a dog. I would be pushed
around in the corridors and attacked in the school grounds.
'I
started coming home covered in bruises, which I'd hide from my parents,
and I'd spend each lunchtime locked in the school toilets. People would
follow me home from school so my mum started picking me up.
'It
got to the point where I'd suffer panic attacks before I left for
school and I'd even be physically sick. I was too scared to talk to
anybody and I'd panic if I wasn't with my mum all the time.
'At
first I felt like my home was my safe haven but then I started getting
emails and messages on MSN saying they were going to get me. I didn't
feel safe anywhere.'
What
was their motive? Hollie says that when she looks back now, she thinks
the girls were just jealous. Some of the boys used to like her and she
thinks maybe that's what started the bullying
Finding her feet: Hollie was visiting a clothes
show at the age of 17 with her mother when she was scouted by a woman
recruiting for Miss Blackpool Town in 2009 - and her modelling went from
strength to strength
Hollie,
who works as a estate agent lettings negotiator, finally told her
parents the truth after two years and was immediately taken out of
school for three months. She added: 'I was 13 when I told my mum what
was going on.
'Before
that, I was too embarrassed to tell my parents the full story and my
teachers didn't do anything. They said it was just a phase and they'd
soon start on someone else.
'But
when my mum found out she told me I wasn't going back and so I left for
three months. It was while she was off school that Hollie received
the hate-filled email telling her to kill herself - signed with 200
names.
She
said: 'When I read the email I just broke down. I'm just so thankful
that my mum was in the house at the time because if she hadn't been, I
really think I might have done something stupid. I'd been thinking about
suicide for a long time and I dread to think what could have happened
if I'd been home alone.'
Hollie never went back and she started a new school in Year Nine,
where she made lots of new friends. She said: 'It was a completely fresh
start at my new school and I had a great group of friends. It was
completely different to what I had experienced before.
Champion: Hollie has reached the final of the
Miss England contest on several occasions, and later this year will take
part in the finals of Miss International and Intercontinental 2014
'I tried
to put the years of bullying behind me but I always lacked so much
confidence. When you're told you're ugly and worthless all the time, you
start to believe it. I felt like I wasn't worth the air I breathed.
'When
I look back now I think they were just jealous. Some of the boys used
to like me and so I think maybe that's what started it.'
Hollie was visiting a clothes show at the age of 17 with her mother
when she was scouted by a woman recruiting for Miss Blackpool Town in
2009. She said: 'When she said I should enter my first reaction was that
I could never do anything like that. Because I was so badly bullied, I
struggled to talk to people but she told me it would be a great way to
boost my confidence.
'I
decided to go for it and I've never looked back.' She was crowned
queen and went on to win Miss West Lancashire in 2011 and Miss
Blackpool in 2011.
Campaigner: Hollie's Miss Anti-Bullying pageant will raise money for the Beat Bullying charity through a Just Giving page
Since
then she has reached the final of the Miss England contest on several
occasions, and later this year will take part in the finals of Miss
International and Intercontinental 2014.
She
was also the Blackpool representative in the G Casino Search For a
Model competition, getting into the top five in the country. Hollie,
from Blackpool, says she hopes her story will act encourage other girls
who are being bullied.
She
said: 'Bullying is something I feel very strongly about and I feel like
I've conquered the bullies. Taking part in beauty contests has proved
to me I can do it, has given me that confidence and has made me feel
comfortable with being me.
'I
would like to go into schools at some point and talk to girls about my
experience of bullying and show them you can be a good, positive role
model.'
She
says her Miss Anti-Bullying pageant will raise money for the Beat
Bullying charity through a Just Giving page. 'Girls will be able to
enter if they have been bullied, are strongly against bullying, or know
a friend or family friend who has been bullied.' They can upload a
photo and information about themselves.
'The
judges will ask them some questions and the judging will be based on
what they say and their personality, more than their photo.'
'The aim is to raise money for the charity and to raise awareness at the same time.'
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