SOME of Gwent's most vulnerable residents are set to receive a blow as funding for their community support schemes is slashed.

National Assembly funding for Supporting People schemes, which provide care and support for the elderly, homeless, mentally ill, victims of domestic violence and drug users, is being cut by a massive 11.5 per cent.

Newport city and Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly county borough councils are now considering where the axe will fall.

This is despite the fact Monmouthshire and Torfaen councils deem the service too essential to cut and are using reserves to plug their funding hole.

Newport, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly councils each currently hold cash reserves of around 5 million.

In Newport overall spending on the Supporting People schemes will be down 680,000.

Newport Housing Trust, which provides support for around 145 elderly city tenants, says its service will take the brunt of the cuts.

The city council has already asked the trust to take a funding cut of 43 per cent - down from 930,000 to 527,000.

It means pensioners who have relied on the scheme for help with shopping, attending medical appointments, healthy eating and financial advice could be left to fend for themselves.

Margaret Burton, 62, from Bishpool, suffers with osteoporosis, arthritis, asthma and heart problems and needs a special inhaler to help her breathe.

She has been receiving support from the scheme for nearly two years.

She said: "This service was a godsend for me, a real lifeline. They take me shopping as I can't carry bags, and help me fill in forms.

"Sometimes it's just really nice to see someone and have a chat. It always seems to be the elderly that they pick on, it just doesn't seem fair."

Phil Toms, director of Newport Housing Trust, said: "By freezing our support and not helping any new people we could probably absorb a funding reduction of 10 per cent.

"Anything more would mean vulnerable residents would stop being helped. Our clients are in their seventies, some are over 90. Our support is the high spot of many of their lives.

"If you are old, infirm and alone, everyday tasks we all take for granted can be impossible.

"Arranging for someone to mend your broken washing-machine, deal with doctors, receptionists or make sense of official forms can be just too much to bear."

The scheme currently helps to delay the transfer to care homes and sheltered housing, and enables hospital stays to be as short as possible, freeing up badly needed hospital beds.

Now the fear is that the cuts will result in fewer elderly people being able to stay in their own homes, and will have an adverse effect on bedblocking. It comes just weeks after Newport council announced it was to axe funding for the city's meals-on-wheels service, a decision which is currently under review.

Ann Davies, 84, from Bishpool, receives help from the scheme once a week.

She said: "Cutting the service doesn't bear thinking about. It will make life very difficult for people."

A spokesman for Newport council said: "The council is disappointed at such a large cut in grant being made by the Assembly.

"We are continuing to discuss with our partners ways of minimising the impact on services and people in Newport.

"At this stage no decisions have been taken by the council as it continues exploratory talks."

Supporting People schemes in Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly county boroughs have also helped older people, the homeless, people with learning and physical disabilities, mental health problems, victims of domestic abuse and those who misuse drugs and alcohol to live independently in the community.

Those schemes are now under threat, though it is not currently known just how they will be affected.