Last weekend Slough and the neighbouring boroughs of Windsor and Maidenhead were a buzz as the popular social media personality ‘The Joshie Man’ was in town delivering his home baked cake in the local community as part of his ‘Cake Not Hate’ campaign.
The Joshie Man who is a 12-year-old autistic and non-speaking young man and his dad Dan Harris, have been travelling across the country, delivering this campaign after a mosque attack in their hometown of Peterborough.
‘A person with ‘Far Right’ ideology attacked community members at our local mosque and we are doing this campaign to share that the this does not represent the views of the wider British public,’ said Dan. ‘As a result of our visit and campaign, we have been threatened, bullied and the safety of myself, The Joshie Man, our family and my career have all been targeted but we have responded with cake because we choose love and not fear.’
Their visit started at Slough’s JMIC Mosque on Stoke Poges Lane, where they were greeted by children with their families, worshippers, trustees and the Imam of the mosque.
Trustee Shaista Khan said: ‘It was such a positive visit raising awareness not only around neurodiversity and inclusion, but it was a great reminder that our mosques are open to all and that we grow stronger when we come together and learn from one another whilst building connections. ‘Both The Joshie Man and Dan are wonderful role models for families and individuals with Special Educational Needs (SEN) backgrounds as well as inclusion as the message they shared with us was about unity, kindness and hope.’
The next visit included Masjid Al Jannah on Stoke Road as well as an evening visit to Hounslow Mosque.
Imam Ousman Annsary from Masjid Al Jannah said: ‘It was a breath of fresh air to welcome The Joshie Man and Dan to Slough at a time when voices of division and racist rhetoric are echoed through media platforms against immigrants, ethnic minorities and Muslims in particular. It was heartwarming to welcome and host them amongst us, with them as ‘White British’ and with The Joshie Man being non-speaking his simple message of ‘Cake Not Hate’ speaks louder than the hate message trying to be conveyed across the globe.”
JMIC Mosque Volunteer Selina Zaman who organised the weekend visit learned about the Cake Not Hate campaign whilst scrolling on social media. ‘My son Esa and I were so touched by the work both father and son are doing that Esa said ‘wouldn’t it be amazing if we invite The Joshie Man here to our local mosques?’ so that is when I reached out to Dan and invited him to come visit us.”
Sunday the father and so duo were welcomed at St.George’s Chapel in Windsor, the Maidenhead Synagogue and the Maidenhead Mosque and Islamic Centre. Dinner on Saturday and Sunday were sponsored by Wunder Wings and Grill Street both located on Farnham Road in Slough.
With the campaign taking off so quickly across the country in just a few months, it has now reached international waters with the Joshie Man recently being invited to Abu Dhabi as well as the holy city of Medina by the Saudi government.
Dan said: “From the moment we arrived, Saudi families opened their hearts to us. We were welcomed, included and embraced not as visitors but as people they wanted to get to know. The same way, we really felt the love in Slough community. The masjids ensured we were able to stand at the front and share our message of peace and acceptance. It was so emotional to see how so many people turned out to welcome us and we made so many new friends, who we can’t wait to see again.”
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