A WOMAN who lost the ability to speak after a stroke is waiting to find out if she will lose the "lifeline" support of a charity that helps her communicate.

Catherine Long, 29, suffered a devastating stroke in South Africa last year and now battles with aphasia, a mental impairment which affects her speech.

But the Stroke Association's communication support service has helped her regain her power to communicate with other people.

However in February, Oxfordshire County Council announced it was going to axe the £16,595 annual grant it contributes for the service – 40 per cent of the charity's total budget for the service in Oxfordshire – leaving the £25,395 contributed each year by Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

Unless it can fill the £16,595 gap the charity has said it will have to cut its 430 support sessions each year to just 260.

Catherine Long's father, Andrew, 67, said the family, who live in Aston near Witney, hoped cuts would not mean Catherine and others like her could no longer have sessions.

He said: "The Stroke Association have been so important to Catherine's recovery, they've introduced her to other survivors of a similar age, so she knows she is not alone."

As part of her help from the charity, Catherine is visited every few weeks by someone who is trained to help her with speech and language development.

Retired teacher Mr Long said: "When you are in hospital there is lots of high level-help but when you are discharged you are pretty much left to your own devices.

"That was where the Stroke Association was just so helpful, because we knew we were not alone.

"They were able to help us out in every aspect, with things you wouldn't have even thought about.

"For example, because Catherine has lost the use of her right hand, we didn't know there was such a thing as a 'knorck', a combination of a knife and a fork.

"It is also about knowing what avenues of funding to go down to help us and Catherine manage her disabilities."

The Long family were among the stroke survivors and families who attended an advice and feedback session held by the Stroke Association at Didcot Civic Hall in an attempt to find out what provisions needed to be offered in Oxfordshire.

Stroke Association regional head of operations Esme Mutter said: "The feedback session was a much-needed opportunity to hear concerns from local residents like Andrew, Gillian and Catherine about the future of services in Oxfordshire.

"We are currently in talks with the council and the clinical commissioning group about funding for the provision of services for stroke survivors in Oxfordshire."

Judith Heathcoat, lead for adult social care at the county council, said the local authority was in the process of saving £290m from 2010 to 2018.

She said: "One of the ways we are looking to save some of that total is to combine the assessment and review functions of social care need (under the Care Act 2014) national eligibility criteria for people who have had a stroke with mainstream social care assessment and review functions, rather than providing separate stroke advisers.

"This would save around £17,000 by removing duplication and streamlining processes."