South Tyneside steel company gives double boost to war-torn country 'in support of our colleagues in Ukraine'

Phoenix Steel, which has a base in Jarrow as well as another in Hartlepool, is set to give a ‘sizeable’ donation to Ukraine.

And bosses have also set up a JustGiving link so that staff and customers can make their own donations, with more than £1,100 already donated.

Phoenix is a company with close ties with a Ukrainian supplier which is located in one of the worst-affected regions of the war-torn country.

Its fundraising page said: “We know first-hand of the pain and suffering their staff face as some have desperately tried to escape and others have stayed to try to protect the business whilst losing everything themselves.”

Sales director Vince Conroy told the Gazette: “We thought we wanted to do something as a company to try and show our support for our colleagues in the industry who have had a hard time.

"We are going to make a sizeable donation and there is the JustGiving page for our customers and suppliers to support our colleagues in Ukraine.”

The South Tyneside firm employs around 30 people and is a stockist of steel products.

It has a sister plant in Hartlepool which employs 23 people and which has made its own big-hearted gesture to support colleagues in Ukraine.

The entire Hartlepool staff have donated one hour’s pay to support the appeal. General manager Tony Larkin said: “A long serving employee approached me with the idea, stating that he was feeling as though he needed to help with fundraising and asked if employees would be interested in donating one hour’s salary. I’m very proud to say that all 23 employees agreed and it will be donated at the earliest opportunity.”

He said the move was made ‘on the back of a company Ukrainian JustGiving initiative to help raise funds for the Ukrainian people.”

The JustGiving page added: “We feel duty-bound to support our Ukrainian colleagues during this devastating crisis and we want to show our allegiance to them by raising funds to assist them in any way possible so that one day soon they can return to the life they had before and continue to work with us.”

The page can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/phoenixsteel

Support your Gazette and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling South Tyneside’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe - and click here to get a snapshot of the Gazette’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.