When the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion visited Birmingham in March 2026 for its national consultation work, the UK Muslim Network and The Art Quarter did something simple and deliberate. They extended an invitation to mark Eid together. The result was an afternoon that no formal roundtable could have produced. Commission co-chair John Cruddas joined community stakeholders, religious leaders, educators, sporting figures and civic voices from across the region around the table at Jordan Patel's Art Quarter, a cultural and civic venue in the heart of Birmingham that has become exactly the kind of Muslim-led space Britain needs more of. The conversation was honest, warm and wide-ranging, covering what cohesion actually looks like beyond the policy language, and what it takes to build the infrastructure that makes it real. Julie Siddiqi, Co-Chair of the UK Muslim Network, spoke at the event and set the tone clearly. Cohesion is not the absence of conflict, she said. It is the active, ongoing work of building shared life. Muslim communities are not just stakeholders in that work. They are among its most committed builders. Also present was Dan Harris, father of Josh Harris, better known online as The Joshi Man, whose visits to mosques up and down the country have captured something real about where Britain is at its best. Josh, a young Christian from Peterborough, has been travelling to Muslim communities across the country, speaking openly about hate, belonging and the importance of showing up for one another. He has been received with extraordinary warmth wherever he has gone, and his story has resonated far beyond any single faith community. Dan shares that same spirit. He spoke at the gathering about the national importance of this kind of engagement and confirmed his intention to work alongside the UK Muslim Network going forward. His presence was a reminder that UKMN's reach is growing, and that the people who care about this work are finding each other across every boundary that might otherwise divide them. For a network founded on the principle that Muslim civic voices belong in every room where decisions about British life are made, an Eid lunch that brought together a national commission and a cross-section of Birmingham's community leadership was not a side event. It was the work itself. To find out more about the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion and follow its national conversation, visit livingwelltogether.org.uk.