I don't mean for this email to be such a negative one, but it kind of is. I went through exactly the situation that you went through (for a year), but once I realised I was being strung along I applied for another university and got in (at which point my old University suddenly came up with money to try keep me).

And I have to say that accepting the funding was a big mistake and I never should have embarked on this PhD. These false promises will follow you throughout academia; once you get the funding honestly, nothing changes. Whether it's being paid back for conferences, internships lined up that never happen, teaching that never comes about, in my case international tutor position which never happened. I got my funding, but the false promises continue, and you're quickly being worked to unemployment.

I was so happy that after being messed around for so long like you were, I finally got my funding, but I was so busy trying to get on to the course, that my brief victory blinded me to fact that I'd already entered everyday academic life from the moment I applied, and it's all false promises and lies.

I'm not trying to put you off at all, but just be aware that this is academia, and once you finally get that funding, the minimum wage that comes in doesn't makes it anymore tolerable. Just be sure that you're not being persistent for this funding just because you've been strung along for so long. That was definitely the case for me and I didn't realise it until it was too late.