'You have utterly changed my life': Local chef overwhelmed as Clapham raises £10,000 for restaurant ruined by burglary

Tarell McIntosh, 'Chef T', has thanked the local community as donations to rebuild his Clapham restaurant continue to flood in.

A fundraiser for Caribbean restaurant Sugarcane has received £10,383 in donations – more than double its £5,000 goal – ahead of the deadline for contributions at midnight today (February 1).

When Chef T opened his restaurant on Wandsworth Road during the first lockdown, local resident Serena Vaughan said he "brought some sunshine to a worn down corner of a busy road which sorely needed it."

But having weathered multiple tiers, further lockdowns and Christmas bookings cancelled by Omicron, Sugarcane was left hard pushed to survive after suffering a burglary on January 11.

With help from Serena, who said she started a GoFundMe for Sugarcane "because Chef T is too humble to do it himself", donations from the local community and Londoners further afield have already enabled Chef T to install replacement shutters at Sugarcane that the restaurant's insurance wouldn't cover and which will protect it from future burglaries.

This afternoon, Chef T told people in the local community they have changed his life.

He said: "For someone who spent years thinking they wasn't loved, you have utterly changed my life.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart."

If you would like to make a donation, the Sugarcane GoFundMe is open until the end of today.

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