A Community Win: Celebrating the Community Impact Award

What a wonderful evening of celebration and recognition!

We are delighted to celebrate Cynthia Waggah, CEO and Founder of Afrikana CIC and Rafikiz Lounge, who was honoured with the Community Impact Award at the Cumbria Diversity Awards 2026.

For Cynthia, this recognition is not simply about an individual achievement. It is a win for everyone who has contributed to the work, shared in the journey and helped make a difference.

Speaking after receiving the award, Cynthia said:

“This is a win for the community. Without the community, there is no one to serve. This recognition motivates me to continue creating initiatives that make a meaningful difference. I am truly grateful to everyone I have had the privilege of working with and to my incredible teams at Afrikana CIC and Rafikiz Lounge. This recognition belongs to all of us.”

The Community Impact Award is a new category introduced in 2026 to recognise work that reaches beyond one person and creates a positive impact across a whole community, whether through an individual, business or organisation. Selected by the judging panel rather than applied for directly, the award gives this kind of work its own recognition for the first time.

Cynthia received the award on Saturday, 26 September 2026, at the Cumbria Diversity Awards, where she was also a finalist in the Business Champion category.

We would like to sincerely thank the Cumbria Diversity Awards for creating a platform that recognises and celebrates the great work being done across Cumbria.

To all the nominees and finalists, congratulations! You make Cumbria great.

This recognition is a celebration of what can happen when people come together, support one another and work towards building stronger, more inclusive communities. Indeed this is a community win.

Here’s to continuing the work, building connections and creating lasting impact together.