#VisitMyMosque day took place on Sunday 7th February 2016, with over 80 mosques across the UK taking part in simultaneously holding a mosque open day.
Mosques across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland took part, inviting in neighbours to share tea and refreshments, alongside an insight into the day-to-day goings on of a busy Muslim centre of worship.
First conceived in February 2015 with about 20 mosques taking part, 2016 saw the initiative expand to over 80 mosques, achieving both increased geographic spread across the UK. This year also saw increased press coverage in mainstream national and regional media, as well as social media.
Open days are nothing new and many mosques in Britain have actually been holding open day events for years if not decades. Many mosques also have an open door policy where visitors are catered for at any time. #VisitMyMosque aims to amplify the positive work already being performed by asking mosques to co-ordinate at least one of their open days per year on a single day: ‘Visit My Mosque’ day.
Sign up here for Visit My Mosque 2017!
Selected press coverage 2016:
BBC News Online – British Muslims open doors to mosques to ‘demystify’ them
The Guardian – Visit My Mosque day: British Muslims offer tours and tea to public
Russia Today – British mosques ‘explain faith’ in #VisitMyMosque day
Sky News – Mosques Open Their Doors To Tackle Prejudice
Independent – Why UK Mosques are opening their doors in a bid to tackle Islamophobia
Mail Online – Mosques open doors to show unity ‘at a tense time’
Selected TV coverage 2016
ITV News Wales – Mosques across Wales take part in open day to encourage people to find out more about Islam
ITV News Tyne Tees – Open Day at Newcastle Mosque
PressTV – Mosques across UK open doors to non-Muslims
BBC London – Finsbury Park mosque welcomes visitors on open day
Mosques and visitors were encouraged to post photos and comments on social media via hashtag #visitmymosque. Below is a selection of screen grabs from twitter from the 2016 day.
More can be viewed online at: https://twitter.com/hashtag/visitmymosque
