When Nestor was a teenager and living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he became a target of armed militias recruiting child soldiers. They came to his school, pulling pupils out against their will. As the conflict escalated and with his life in peril, his uncle flew with him to Scotland, doing his best to get him to safety — but then left him to his own devices at a Glasgow train station.
Nestor would never see his uncle again. At the time, he was just 16. He had no money, spoke no English and had never been outside the DRC. His father, a prominent political journalist, had died two years earlier and Nestor was estranged from his mother, so when his uncle left him on that railway platform, he was utterly alone in an alien world. His uncle later passed away, and they never saw each other again.
“It was a very dark moment in my life,” he says of that day at the station. “I was scared and couldn’t find anyone who spoke my language. After wondering around, I saw a random black man who I approached for help. Luckily, we both spoke a little Swahili and he directed me to the Scottish Refugee Council.”
Nestor, 29, now a top chef who has worked at Michelin-star restaurants in Edinburgh and London, recounts his extraordinary story. There are things “too traumatic” to talk about, he says — like the circumstances surrounding his father’s death, which he describes as “political”. But there is much he does want to talk about, starting with how the Scottish Refugee Council — and later cooking — saved his life.
The Scottish Refugee Council is one of the funded partners in our winter campaign in partnership with Comic Relief — Who’s at Your Table? — which is seeking to raise funds for charities supporting people who have been forced to flee their homes and people facing homelessness or food insecurity.
Read more: Stephen Fry and Andi Oliver back our appeal
Today we can also announce a significant boost to our campaign: a £900,000 donation from This Day Foundation, taking our total raised to over £1.4 million.
This Day Foundation
Founded in 2023 by Gary Lubner to drive systemic social change in the UK and South Africa, This Day focuses on ending youth unemployment, youth development, and supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Every grant includes a leadership element to help build a fairer future for new generations and applies business-world discipline to maximise charitable impact. By the end of 2025, This Day will have given over £80 million to good causes across South Africa and the UK.
Gary Lubner, a British philanthropist and businessman born in South Africa and who founded This Day, explains his backing. He says: “With both sets of my grandparents having fled persecution in Eastern Europe to arrive as refugees in South Africa, I understand what it means to seek safety and opportunity. Growing up in apartheid-era Johannesburg, I saw how prejudice devastates lives and limits opportunities. Through This Day, I am focussed on supporting refugees and building communities where fairness and equality prevail.”
He added: “Every refugee story I have ever heard reinforces the same truth: no one chooses to leave their home unless forced by war or persecution, yet too often they arrive here to face hostility rather than compassion. That is why I am proud to support The London Standard’s campaign with Comic Relief. It is about what connects us, not what divides us; about recognising our shared humanity and ensuring that those who need help most are not left behind.”
“What a relief to be able to communicate. I broke down”
Nestor’s story epitomises the transformative impact that funding for groups like the Scottish Refugee Council can have.
He recalls that first meeting: “They were warm and welcoming, gave me food and crucially, found someone who could speak French,” he says. “What a relief to be able to communicate. I broke down. They took me to a big house where other young refugees lived and gave me a place to stay. Then they arranged weekly therapy and English classes and helped me apply for asylum. Because my father had been a prominent journalist and his death had been reported, the Home Office easily verified my story, and my claim for asylum was accepted within six months.”
For Nestor, those early years of support from the Scottish Refugee Council were critical as he tried to rebuild his life. “It’s hard for me to talk about because it’s a feeling far deeper than loneliness,” he says. “At times, you are so desperate you want to kill yourself. I was traumatised. Loud bangs in the night would make me wake bolt upright — I thought I was hearing gunfire and that I was back on the streets of Goma. It was thanks to the wrap-around support I got from the Scottish Refugee Council that I found the strength to carry on.”
Who's at Your Table
Our winter campaign — Who’s at Your Table? — in partnership with Comic Relief, is raising money to fund organisations in London and across the country helping people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity, and people who have been forced to flee their homes.
But after a few years, something unexpected happened: Nestor fell in love with cooking, and with Scotland. “It’s the strangest thing,” he smiles. “Where I come from, cooking is women’s work — I didn’t even know how to chop an onion. But when I was around 18, I got a job as a kitchen porter washing dishes for about £80 a week at a restaurant called 111 by Nico. The chef, Nico Simeone, took me under his wing and trained me in classical techniques. That was the start of something magical.”
Nestor worked hard, completed a chef’s course, and went on to cook at Tom Kitchin’s Michelin-starred restaurant in Edinburgh before joining Claude Bosi’s two-Michelin-star kitchen in London.
“I had so much suffering coming here so young, but the kitchen gave me discipline and structure”
“The kitchen transformed my life and gave me purpose,” he says. “I had so much suffering coming here so young, but the kitchen gave me discipline and structure. It’s 12 to 14-hour shifts, incredibly intense, but people like Tom Kitchin opened their arms to me and said, ‘This is your home’. Now I want to do the same for others.”
He breaks into a broad grin. “I’ve just got engaged — my fiancée is half-French, half Congolese, but born in France, so her story is completely different. I wish I could meet that man who helped me when I was homeless and took me to the Scottish Refugee Council because I never saw him again. There is so much about those early years I still don’t know or remember: which countries I travelled through, where I landed, what my uncle said before he left me.”
This Christmas, Nestor will be helping to prepare a scrumptious dinner for fine diners at a 3 AA Rosette and Michelin recommended restaurant in the Cotswolds where he is currently freelancing, as well as celebrating privately with his fiancée and friends.
Who will be missing from his table? “My dad,” he says quietly. “We were very close. I miss his guidance. Everything I’ve achieved, I’ve done for him. Even after all these years, I keep trying to make him proud.”
How you can help
£10 could help provide a child forced to leave home with a gift to open on Christmas
£25 could help pay for a child refugee to attend a group session to build language skills
£30 could provide a family forced to leave home with a food voucher for a festive meal with loved ones
£45 could provide a refugee with two hours career advice, supporting them to secure employment
