SCHOOLS, businesses and a council will paint their town orange tomorrow in a show of support for one of its young residents.

Spennymoor will join Muscular Dystrophy UK’s national Go Orange for a Day event, to raise awareness and money for local fundraising campaign Love for Louis.

The 100-year-old Spennymoor Town Hall will be washed with orange light and school children and staff will swap their uniforms for clothes and accessories in various shades of tangerine.

All have been inspired by King Street Primary School pupil Louis Jackson and will raise funds for the Love for Louis Family Fund.

It was set up by parents Sarah and Sam Jackson after Louis was diagnosed with Becker muscular dystrophy in June 2015, at just three-years-old.

Over time the muscle-wasting condition, caused when a vital muscle protein called dystrophin does not work properly, can lead to increasingly severe disability and sometimes life-threatening health problems.

Since the campaign was launched in February 2017, the Jacksons, who live in Spennymoor, have raised more than £3,000 for research into Becker.

They hope with the community's support, Go Orange for a Day will get them closer to their £5,000 target – enough to fund a month of research into the, as yet, incurable condition.

Mrs Jackson said: “Louis is just Louis. He is unique, fiery, special, funny and completely his own person. He does not give one jot what people think of him and lives life for himself, the Louis way.

"The diagnosis turned our lives on their heads but meeting Louis’ medical team at Newcastle’s Centre for Life gave us hope.

"As a family and with Louis joining in as much as he can, we do as much as possible to raise money and awareness to fight this condition.”

Spennymoor Town Mayor Councillor Clive Maddison said: “As Mayor of Spennymoor Town Council I am delighted that we can help with raising awareness of muscular dystrophy by lighting the town hall up orange on February 1, 2019.

"Go Orange for a Day is a national event encouraging people to wear orange and to make a donation to enable further research to be carried out in to this terrible disease.

"Every £5,000 raised could pay for a whole month’s worth of research– how amazing is that.”

Supporters are asked to donate £1 to wear orange– the colour of the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK.