Wow! What a year Heat Pumps NOW has had. We’ve installed, cleaned and serviced hundreds and hundreds of heat pumps all over Christchurch, but we have also done so much more!

Heat Pumps NOW was honoured to be part of the official launch of Pay it Forward – A community store completely stocked by goods made in Christchurch by Cantabrians. The launch, which took place on Friday the 13th of March, actually turned out to be a lucky night for two local artisans thanks to Heat Pumps NOW.

Community is one of our core values, and one of the reasons we started Heat Pumps NOW. Because we advertise in ‘The Mairehau’ newsletter, in the middle of last year, Ginny Larsen of the Neighbourhood Trust approached Heat Pumps NOW for a quote on a project they were working on. After learning about their Pay it Forward initiative and what it would mean for the future of many small businesses, we could see the good it would do Christchurch and decided we had to be involved.

Check out our video of the Pay it Forward opening night.

We installed a Fujitsu heat pump and ducting unit at-cost, saving The Neighbourhood Trust a fair bit of money. During the months of build-up to the opening on Friday night, we learned more about the people involved, and what a wonderful asset to Christchurch this store would be. Knowing how hard it can be to launch a new business, founder and Director Blair Ashdowne decided he wanted to help two deserving artists get a head-start.

“Community is at the heart of Heat Pumps NOW, and I believe that means putting your money where your mouth is to help those around you,” says Blair. “We asked Ginny Larsen at The Neighbourhood Trust to collect submissions from those involved in Pay it Forward, asking what they’d do with a small grant,” he says.

Cantabrians have become pretty good at community.

After the earthquakes shook Christchurch we started looking over our neighbour’s fences again and asking, “Are you ok?” If there were problems, we pitched in to lend a hand. We didn't do it for our own gain, but because we knew we were all in the same boat and being there for each other made us stronger.

Four years on from those big quakes, we are heartened to see people still pulling together to help someone out, because they believe in what it means to be a community. Lilian Exton is a beautiful and bright 13 year old, about to start year 10 at Avonside Girls High School. Like any teenager, she wants a bit of freedom to go to the mall, hang out with her friends and see a movie. 

However, Lilian faces more challenges than most with her everyday mobility. She has otospondylomegaepiphyseal dysplasia, an extremely rare disorder affecting her growth and joints. She uses a power chair to help with getting around, but her family currently don’t have a vehicle large enough to transport her chair. This means Lilian’s not able to easily go out with friends, without help from her parents, or older sister Melissa.

When Heat Pumps NOW saw how Lilian’s community was helping the Exton family to fundraise for a new car that would be able to transport Lilian's power chair, we wanted to be involved.

On Sunday March 29th, a group of regulars from the Endeavour Tavern, the Exton’s local pub, held a fundraising tournament at the Everglades Golf Club. The weather looked a little grey at first, but the clouds gave way to a beautiful sunny day.