Stroke survivor Tim Broder is back behind the wheel and enjoying a new volunteer job at Ballarat Fish Hatchery thanks to support from the Stroke Association of Victoria and its Ballarat's Stroke Support Centre.
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But the association's regional stroke support centres are under threat with state funding due to run out on June 30 and no word on whether it will be renewed.
The closure of the Ballarat Stroke Support Centre, which runs out of the Eastwood Leisure Complex, would leave a hole in the support services for the more than 1300 people across Ballarat living with the after-effects of stroke, as well as their carers and families.
Social activities, vocational training, skill development, peer support, physical activities and support groups are offered through the centre to help stroke survivors re-engage with the community and rebuild their lives.
Mr Broder said many stroke survivors would lose the connections they had built if the centre was to close.
He feared people would "drift away" and become more isolated, as well as losing the advocacy and support the centre provides.
Ballarat Stroke Support Centre coordinator Alison Stevenson said after six to 12 weeks of rehabilitation following a stroke, most survivors returned to the community with few of the extra supports they might need.
"What we found is they retreat from the community, they get stuck at home and they suffer not only physical issues but mental and emotional issues like depression, anxiety, fear and isolation. We work on all those things to get them back engaging in the community in some form," Ms Stevenson said.
"It might be a different kind of life than they had before, but we provide support to anyone aged 18 and over. It's not just the elderly, we've got clients in their 30s and 40s who still have a long productive life to live."
It also offers specialised services that, if cut, would increase pressure on regional health services.
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"We have just started a free aphasia group with a qualified speech pathologist because it can be a six to eight week wait before an appointment at Grampians Health. Our group runs once a fortnight, so there's a service where we are relieving pressure off Grampians Health ... and once it's gone ... there's nowhere else to go and it will increase pressure on other resources."
Support for carers and families was also vital, she said.
"It affects the whole family. The whole life is changed in that household," she said.
Ms Stevenson said the association was lobbying the state government to continue to fund the vital service, which supports more than 5000 people across its five regional centres in Ballarat, Geelong, Bendigo, Shepparton and Morwell.
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