'My life hit the floor really really hard' - West Country sexual assault survivor speaks out
Watch a survivor of sexual assault speak to ITV News' Robert Murphy about the life-changing support she received from a charity
A sexual assault survivor in the West Country has revealed how one charity turned her life around.
SARSAS, which stands for Somerset and Avon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support, helps around 25 people every week. One of those people is Liz Roberts.
Liz Roberts reported her brother Andrew to police for indecently assaulting her as a child. She received help from SARSAS immediately.
Liz said: "My life hit the floor really really hard and without that helping hand, I wouldn't be talking to you today now because that was a major step in my healing.
"I didn't know I needed saving until your life starts to unravel - and then you're drowning, literally, by the day - and to know and have somebody you trust, you cut through all the small talk."
In 2022, Andrew Herbert was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault against his sister and another underage girl in the 1970s.
The charity now receives around 25 referrals every week - a steady rise since it was first established 16 years ago.
SARSAS says its resources can't keep up with growing demand and waiting lists are getting longer.
Lorri Weaving, CEO of SARSAS, told ITV West Country: "The impacts of sexual violence are devastating - it impacts every area of someone's life - that trauma has a day-to-day impact.
"Many people have waited for a long time to come forward for support. It's a really brave thing to do, to pick up that phone and to give us a call and to be faced with that wait, it really impacts that trauma.
"We need to be able to support people as soon as they come forward."
SARSAS says it needs financial help quickly. The charity says it will have less money because it will pay more national insurance for employees because of measures outlined in the last budget announced by the Government.
Lorri said: "Our reliability as a charity to pay employees' national insurance as well as for every other charity in the country - it's going to have a real effect on services.
"So for us, for example, it will cost us next year somewhere in the region of around £30,000 - which is the equivalent of a frontline worker at least.
"Our services will probably reduce and our waiting lists will go up."
A spokesman from HM Treasury said: "We've protected small charities by more than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of all employers with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year."