A MAJOR project to document the history of the community of migrants from the Indian sub-continent has been launched.

North West Kent Racial Equality Council (NWKREC) will create a book, website and exhibition tracing the story of the community in Gravesham, from the first to arrive in the 1960s to the present day.

Information will be collected by volunteers interviewing the early migrants and their families, and the project has been funded by a £36,900 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Gurvinder Sandher, assistant director of NWKREC, which promotes harmony between different ethnic groups in the area, says the story of the migrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is “important”.

He said: “I believe there is an important story to tell about the early migrants from the Indian sub-continent who arrived in Gravesham.

“They have made such an important contribution to the borough over the past four decades economically, socially and culturally, but it is important to learn how their story started when they first arrived.”

Members of Gravesham Historical Society and staff from Kent County Library Service will help NWKREC volunteers with the research and interviews.

In October the material gathered will be published in a book titled Coming to Gravesham, and a website of the same name, which will track the project, will be launched soon.

A mobile exhibition of the material, including video interviews, will tour schools and libraries in the borough from October.

The project will also be a part of an event to celebrate the culture of the Indian sub-continent at the Civic Centre in Windmill Street, Gravesend, also in October.

Gravesham has the highest number of migrants from the Indian sub-continent in Kent, with more than 8,000, and the majority of these people are Sikhs.

Work is currently ongoing on a new £11m Sikh temple in Khalsa Avenue, Gravesend, after the previous one in Clarence Place was sold to a developer to be turned into 19 flats and two houses.