Abuse survivor's funding hope for charity

Laura Fisher said she wanted to use her experience as a survivor of sexual abuse to help the charity

A woman who says a rape and sexual abuse support charity saved her life is hoping she can help them raise vital funds to keep going.

Laura Fisher, who waived her right to anonymity, said the Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (CRASAC) helped her to deal with the trauma of being groomed as a child.

She has now joined the group's board of trustees after they said they were struggling for funds following the city council's decision in 2024 to withdraw £195,000 worth of funding.

The authority said it was aware of the concerns while Ms Fisher said she wanted to make sure there was "a survivor voice" on the board.

She was offered therapy by the charity along with help to navigate the justice system and said the support came at the right time for her

"I was at the point of desperation. It was impacting every area of my life, my work, my relationships, my ability to look after my family, my mental health," the 41-year-old said.

"I look back now and I don't recognise the person that I was at that time at all."

Natalie Thompson said she was worried more services would be cut if the charity did not get the level of funding it needed

Ms Fisher said she decided that "something good" needed to come from her experience.

"To be invited to join the trustee panel at CRASAC felt like a really important milestone in my own journey," she added.

"To come in at a time when I knew how heavily impacted they are and the pressure that they were under in terms of their funding and how many services had to be stripped away, I feel ready for the challenge to support them in whatever way that I can but also to make sure that there is lived-experience."

Bosses at CRASAC said the demand on their services had increased each year but they were not getting the funding to match.

Chief executive Natalie Thompson said the organisation needed at least £1.3m annually to run its services.

"The biggest change in our funding is when the local authorities stopped funding us and that was around about £200,000," she said.

"There's also been cost and our other big funders, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), are not increasing their funding at the same level as they as they were the year before so therefore that's a real terms cut."

Pledge on violence

A spokesperson for the city council said they have met with CRASAC and other partners to consider how to improve the offer to Coventry residents and would continue to work with them.

While for the MoJ, a spokesperson said they remained resolute in their mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade and were committed to supporting victims of crime.

"We have maintained 2024-25 funding levels for ring-fenced sexual violence and domestic abuse support this year, including the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund for specialist services," they added.