Ontario blacksmiths partner for project to support family separated by Ukraine-Russia war

After hearing about a Ukrainian blacksmith who left his anvil to fight Russia, a group of Ontario blacksmiths came together in a unique way to support his wife and children, who now live in Waterloo, Ont.

Blacksmith Robb Martin has made just about everything at Thak Ironworks in Woolwich Township over the last 30 years.

That’s until a rare ‘project’ practically walked in through his shop doors.

“Iryna had been here for maybe a month as a new refugee,” said Martin.

Iryna Tereschenko is from Ukraine and her family was separated by the ongoing war.

“I’m scared about my kids, of course,” Tereschenko said, recalling the frightening moments when they had to flee.

Her husband stayed to fight, but Tereschenko and her children eventually made their way to Waterloo.

Before the war, her husband was a blacksmith and she was an ironwork designer, which is how they made a living.

So it made sense when she showed up at Thak Ironworks in search of a job.

“That was not a possibility, but I looked at her portfolio and the designs and the style – it just blew me away,” Martin said.

He came up with an idea. He asked Tereschenko to design something that he, and more than a dozen Ontario blacksmiths, could create and auction off to help financially support the family.

Tereschenko accepted, although she was a little hesitant given her unfamiliarity with certain measurement conversions.

“Before this, I knew millimetre, centimetre, metre. I don’t know inches or anything like that, my God,” she said, chuckling.

But she overcame the nerves and chose to design a gate.

A gate designed by Ukrainian Iryna Tereschenko and crafted by Ontario blacksmiths is shown in this picture taken on June 27, 2024. (Submitted)

“It’s a clock – it shows my life before war and my life after,” she said, showing her design.

The group of blacksmiths wasted no time. It took hundreds of hours of voluntary work to complete.

“Then it all came to the shop here. My employee and I ended up putting the whole thing together,” said Martin. He said the project took about one year.

It came full circle Thursday afternoon. The gate was sold at auction for $10,000, but to make the sale even sweeter, Waddington’s Auctioneers & Appraisers in Toronto topped the donation up, which brought the total to $12,500.

All of that will go to Tereschenko and her family.

“Everybody [involved] are all very good people. I’m lucky,” she said.

She hopes the gate she helped build will lead to job opportunities as she looks to build a new life and eventually have her family together again.