DRUG and alcohol misuse projects in Gwent will get almost £400,000 in funding from the Welsh Assembly Government.

Between now and April next year, the CRI peer mentor service will get £5,000 for new IT equipment, Kaleidoscope alcohol service will be covered for nine months with£13,500 funding, the refurbishment and re-design of Gwent Specialist Substance Misuse Service's needle exchange in Lower Dock Street will get £10,728 and its telephone service will be replaced at a cost of £14,869.

Also, a re-design of Kaleidoscope's Old School building on Powell's Place will get £80,000 and its one-year pilot Sexually Transmitted Infections screening programme in Tredegar will be funded with £6,455.

Aneurin Bevan Health Board will get £29,995 to buy a portable fibroscan machine which identifies patients with significant liver disease as a result of alcohol abuse.

Solas will get £257,400 for accommodation of four self-contained flats for people with drug and alcohol problems.

Solas work with a number of people, including those with mental health or drug and alcohol problems, current or ex-offenders, rough sleepers, people fleeing domestic abuse and those at risk of eviction due to anti-social behaviour as well as teenagers as young as 16.

Kaleidoscope mainly covers projects involving people with drug and alcohol addictions.

It has been a registered independent charity since 2007 and works throughout South Wales - among its services, it houses people with mental health problems, aged from 18 to 65, in a residential home for up to two years.

The cash is part of the Welsh Government's ten-year strategy to tackle drug and alcohol misuse.

Blaenau Gwent AM, Alun Davies, said this strategy "aims to work with partner organisations to reduce the damage caused, not only by investing in prevention and education to stop people becoming hooked on alcohol or drugs in the first place, but are also investing in treatment and rehabilitation for those who are addicted."

AM for Newport West, Rosemary Butler, said: "These organisations play a vital role in supporting individuals suffering from alcohol and drug misuse, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact this funding will have."