Fundraise for burgled Caribbean restaurant smashes initial target

Friend of the restaurant Serena Vaughan set up a GoFundMe page for Sugarcane following a break in at the Clapham restaurant on 11 January that led to a smashed window and money from the till being stolen.

The goal was to raise £5,000 to go towards the estimated £15,000 of costs, which include lost income from the restaurant being forced to close during parts of December and for the repair of the window and the purchase of new shutters.

However, so far more than £10,000 has been raised, more than double the original target.

Sugarcane was launched in 2020 by chef-patron Tarell Mcintosh - known as Tee - and serves a menu that includes tapas dishes and sharing plates.

Writing on the GoFundMe page, Vaughan said: “I’m starting a GoFundMe for Sugarcane, our community Caribbean restaurant in Clapham, because Chef T is too humble to do it himself.

“Chef T opened Sugarcane during the first lockdown, with no investment funds and little money in his pocket. I live nearby and used to walk past him painting the chairs and making the signs for his restaurant on my daily walk, and we struck up a friendship. Somehow, he has kept going through multiple tiers and lockdowns, and has brought some sunshine to a worn down corner of a busy road which sorely needed it.”

Mcintosh has since been able to replace the window and buy new shutters for the restaurant.

The GoFundMe page for Sugarcane can be found here​.​