Apair of iconic Mount Gambier landmarks will light the night this weekend as part of a national campaign to raise awareness for a common learning disorder.

The Riddoch Arts and Cultural Centre and the Lady Nelson will light up red as the Blue Lake city becomes one of only three regional towns in Australia to join the Code REaD Dyslexia Network’s awareness campaign for the month of October.

This year’s event, Code REaD’s 9th installation, is their largest yet with 100 locations from Palmerston in the Northern Territory to Hobart’s Tasman Bridge switching on red lights.

Mulga Street Primary School literacy coordinator and Code REaD Dyslexia Network member Jess Hill said she was inspired to get involved after hearing from Code REaD chairperson and co-founder Dr Sandra Marshall.

“She spoke at a conference I was at in sharing best practice for teachers and she mentioned they do their light up for Dyslexia awareness campaign,” she said.

“Dyslexia affects many families and children everywhere.

“Personally, my son was diagnosed with Dyslexia nearly two years ago and then being a classroom teacher for over 15 years, I see it come through children that we teach all the time.

“I think there’s a lot more awareness now of what Dyslexia is and signs that we can look out for as educators.

“We unfortunately cannot diagnose, we do have to go through the medical professionals but once we notice signs we’re able to help the children and the families get the support they need.”

The colour red was selected to take back the power of the colour, often used to mark school work with red crosses and comments.

According to the Code REaD Dyslexia Network, red is disruptive and cannot be ignored but it also highlights the urgency of the situation.

The event coincides with a recent report commissioned by Code REaD that found four in 10 15-year-old students are not meeting reading benchmarks and the estimated cost of lost lifetime earnings for those who fall behind is over $12b.

Mrs Hill said shining a light on the learning disorder will aid families and children in getting the help they need.

“The more support that children and families can get is vital in being able to close the gap and then helping them to read as they get older,” she said.

“It would be great if we could continue it now, especially being one of two or three regional areas, it would be great if we could keep that going every year.

“I would like to hope other council areas may have attractions we can light up, I think of the lobster in Kingston, there’s a landmark in Millicent I think as well that might have potential.

“I think it’s just getting it out there and promoting and raising awareness because it’s something that does affect many children and families.”

Mulga Street Primary School students will wear red this Friday to coincide with the lighting of the local landmarks over the weekend.