A MOTHER who suffered a stroke aged 25 is pleading with councillors not to cut £80,000 funding for victims.

East Sussex County Council meets on Tuesday to finalise its budget.

It says it has no choice but to make millions of pounds worth of savings, despite council tax rising by six per cent.

One proposed saving is £80,000 for the Stroke Association’s support services in the county.

If this vital funding is withdrawn, the charity’s communication support service, recovery service, six-month review service and education and exercise programme will all finish in May.

Mother of two, Katie Simpson, 30, from Seaford, had several mini-strokes and stroke in 2013 at the age of 25.

She had the strokes whilst pregnant which lead to clots in the baby’s placenta, causing the pregnancy to end.

She said: “If it wasn’t for the support I got from the Stroke Association, I don’t know where I’d be today.

“It helped me fill out forms, apply for support and help with benefits, they listened to me and helped me understand what I was going through.

“They funded me with a grant which allowed me to buy my own anticoagulant machine which helps me manage my Warfarin medication which I’ll be on for all my life.

“This gives me some independence back rather than attending my doctors every few days. Without the Stroke Association, I wouldn’t had had this.”

She said the council proposal is shocking.

“Hearing there may be potential cuts to the Stroke Association’s funding is outrageous, as without them there is no help in the area, there is no hope, support or guidance.

“They have given me a second chance at a normal life with my recovery and their work to local stroke survivors is irreplaceable, and vital in the local community.

“And I hope for the sake of other stroke survivors in East Sussex in the future that they too have the support and knowledge I have received.”

East Sussex County Council says it needs to save a further £17 million in 2018/19 with the county’s funding being cut and demand for services rising.

Suggested savings include proposals to:

• reduce the county’s network of library buildings

• reduce the number of household waste and recycling sites and introduce charging for some types of non-household waste

• reduce the range and level of a number of adult social care services

• reduce support for performance and improvement in schools.