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. To continue its programme and expand, the Network needs a core grant of at least $5 million for the next three years. Some of the cash would be used for resource materials. Some would pay for scholarships to teach local staff how to work with developmentally handicapped children and the parents. Funding also would pay the salaries of two expert staff who oversee the Network's two centres in Guangzhou.