Muslims are to be honoured at an awards ceremony next month.

The Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) of Leicestershire wants to recognise achievements across six categories – sport, literature, humanity, education, creativity and community.

Nominations are being sought for the awards.

It is the second time the FMO has run the awards since 2008 when they were launched in reaction to the "negative" perception of Muslims.

Awards co-ordinator Riyaz Laher said: "The roots of these awards lie in the fact that after the London bombings and other atrocities people were looking at the Muslim community – and we were looking at ourselves – and only seeing the negative side. What we wanted to do was show the positive side and the positive contributions of Muslims to the wider community."

FMO is also running a One Leicester award, in conjunction with the council's One Leicester initiative, which will celebrate community cohesion by recognising those who have made an "extraordinary effort to build positive and harmonious community relations".

The FMO said it would use the awards to help raise money for Loros, by charging guests at the awards ceremony on Saturday, April 10, £10 entry.

The closing date for entries is Friday, March 12. For more information about the awards, visit:

www.fmo.org.uk