Cash crisis hits group aiding disabled children

A Hong Kong-based charity helping mentally disabled children and their parents in Guangdong could be forced to close by the summer.

Mental Handicap Network has been teaching the children to read and their parents how to help them.

It has only enough money to provide its services until May, when a three-year $15 million start-up grant dries up.

The Network, which helps 50 to 100 families whose children have Down's syndrome, had not been able to find another source of funding, Network founder Johnathan Chamberlain said.

'China has not caught up. Normal sources of funding you'd expect local businesses to provide haven't taken off,' Mr Chamberlain said.

The Network is appealing to Hong Kong groups for funding.