Employees at one of Teesside’s leading companies are brightening up Christmas for children who get very little this time of year.
Thanks to the efforts of a married couple who work for Paralloy in Billingham, colleagues donated an Aladdin’s Cave of presents to the Cash for Kids Mission Christmas charity to ensure some of the region’s poorest children receive a gift.
Machine Shop Administrator Tammy Waters and her husband Rob, who is a Lab Technician, heard about the appeal as they drove to work.
“We know it’s been a very difficult time for lots of people and the idea of a child waking up with no Christmas present is so sad, so we thought we had to do something,” she said.
“It’s been wonderful – the response we’ve had from everybody here has just been fantastic.”
The couple were also helped by the Beanie Games toy shop in Stockton which provided games free of charge as well as offering discounts.
Between Paralloy’s sites in Billingham and Middlesbrough – as well its staff in Sheffield who collected gifts on behalf of the Salvation Army’s Christmas appeal – the company’s employees have donated more than 500 presents for children of all ages, from babies to teenagers.
HR Manager Ian Grimes said: “We’re fortunate to have good jobs and can afford to buy presents for our children, but we know that there are a lot of people in this region who are not so well off. That’s why all through the year, and particularly at Christmas, we are on our own mission to connect with our communities.”
This year, for example, the Paralloy Group has supported the Tees and Hartlepool Yacht Club, allowing it to continue to provide sailing experiences for young people. It has bought kits and uniforms for Stockton Football Club’s youth team and Hartlepool Dance Crews. The company has sponsored Billingham’s Rugby team, an all-women elite cycling team – Team Boompods – The Apprentice of the Year Award at Hartlepool College as well as the engineering department at Middlesbrough’s Trinity Catholic College.
Paralloy has also hosted careers days with the Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust, provided work experience for T-Level placements for Middlesbrough College and increased its intake of apprenticeships to 17 across the group.
The apprentices are working with a team regarded as one of the industry leaders, specialising in the manufacture and fabrication of high-quality, precision-engineered components for industries including petro-chemical, aerospace, power generation and transport.
“Our aim is to make Paralloy more visible to the world, but at the same time we think it’s really important to support our local community,” said Ian
“We’re connecting with our potential future employees, young adults or people already working that wish to pursue a career in engineering. But as well as growing our own talent we want to make a significant contribution to the growth of Teesside, particularly in the engineering sector.”
He added: “It’s been a fantastic 2024 for Paralloy but we’re only too aware that it has continued to be a tough year for many people in the region and that is why we will always do our best to help.”
Paralloy Group received a King’s Award for Enterprise for excellence in International Trade and has recruited around 160 employees in the past 12 months.
In the summer the Paralloy Group bought the French company Manoir and its UK business Hi-Tech Fabrication, doubling the number of staff throughout all the businesses to around 1,100.
