The history of Croydon's Muslim community is being celebrated at a new exhibition.

The Tale of Croydon Mosque exhibition is currently running at the Museum of Croydon.

On February 17, Mayor Graham Bass accepted over 300 documents, newspaper articles and photographs relating to more than 40 years of the Muslim community in Croydon on behalf of Croydon Local Studies Library and Archives Service.

The event was organised by Mobeen Butt from Asian Youth Alliance (AYA), who started the project after being disappointed by a lack of material on the Muslim community when he looked at the archives in 2010.

Mr Butt asked the Museum of Croydon and the Local Studies Library and Archives Service if they would support a project which would collect material to be archived.

The partnership successfully secured a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in December 2010.

He said: "History can empower, build self-esteem and allow young people to know where they and their families have come from, so we can all start growing roots and feeling more part of the society that we all live in."

The Muslim Heritage in Croydon project includes over a thousand photographs covering five places of worship, recorded 20 oral histories and collected over 200 documents, photographs and memorabilia.

Over 60 volunteers have given up more than 2,000 hours of their to the project.

Rachel Hasted, Head of Social Inclusion and Diversity at English Heritage said: "We absolutely support this kind of work at local level because without it our understanding of the national heritage simply cannot be sustained.

"Everything that Mobeen has said about the need to make sure that information is in the archives and in the museums for the next generation is absolutely right.

"It ensures too that the voices of those people who make history, in this case those who founded and developed an important faith centre, are captured forever."

AYA is collecting material related to the Muslim community in Croydon.

If you have any old photographs, letters, home videos or memorabilia that you would like to deposit, please email info@asianyouthalliance.co.uk or visit www.muslimheritageincroydon.org.uk