Paying it forward with Kendal Vehicle Services

Fresh from our work at the Pay it Forward Community Co-op, Heat Pumps NOW decided it was time to pay it forward again.

Heat Pumps NOW Loves Paying It Forward in Christchurch

“Heat Pumps NOW stands for the ‘pay it forward’ mantra. We love the idea of businesses supporting community. As we’ve said before, ‘Watch this Space.’ This is the next step for us in the pay it forward journey,” says Heat Pumps NOW Director Blair Ashdowne.

We launched our Pay it Forward Win-A-Wish competition, where people could nominate their friends, family, and community in Christchurch via the Heat Pumps NOW Facebook page to win something that would make a difference in their lives.

Kathryn Robinson nominated her friend Dannie Batchelor, because she does a lot for others and thought it was about time she was on the receiving end.

Pay it Forward nominator, Kathryn Robinson

“I nominated Dannie Batchelor for the Pay it Forward competition that Heat Pumps NOW were running, because she does a lot of work within the Christchurch pay it forward community,” says Kathryn. “From organising food parcels for people who are in need, to picking up and dropping things off that are helpful to other people. I thought it would be a good turn to nominate her because her car is out of action, and with a carload of kids it’s hard to get them everywhere without a vehicle.”

Heat Pumps NOW thought Dannie would make a worthy recipient of our Pay it Forward Win-A-Wish competition. But while we are awesome at servicing and repairing heat pumps, we’re not as good with cars. We needed expert automotive help.

Carol Bradley with Blair Ashdowne

Kendal Vehicle Services Joins Heat Pumps NOW

“Kendal Vehicle Services was approached by Blair Ashdowne from Heat Pumps NOW to be involved in a ‘pay it forward’ campaign, where they were giving someone in the community a helping hand for being selfless in helping others,” says Owner and Manager of Kendal Vehicle Services Carol Bradley.

Together with her husband Dannie looks after five beautiful girls, but working and running a household without a functioning car is very difficult.

Pay it Forward Recipient, Dannie Batchelor

“It was giving us heaps of grief. It had a blown water pump, so I had to fill it up with water every time I drove it. It did my head in, so I took it off the road,” Dannie says.

Having chosen Dannie, we posted our announcement on the Heat Pumps NOW Facebook page. Kathryn saw the good news first.

“Kathryn says to me on Facebook, ‘Are you around?’  I said ‘Yeah,’ and she said ‘Just hang on in there for a little bit.’ Then I think I might have been tagged in post and I was just like ‘Oh My Goodness!’ I’m still pretty speechless about the whole thing to be honest.”

Having a fully function car would make a big difference to the Batchelor household.       

“Having a mobile vehicle is essential. It costs $30 just to do a trip on the bus for all six of us. A car’s gonna make it a lot easier,” says Dannie.

The expert mechanics at Kendal Vehicle Services had a look at Dannie’s car, but sadly there wasn’t much they could do.

The whole team! Kathryn Robinson, Dannie Batchelor, Kendal Vehicle Services Director Carol Bradley, and Heat Pumps NOW Director Blair Ashdowne.

“Dannie had some car issues, so we assessed her vehicle and unfortunately deemed it to be uneconomical to repair. So we’ve partnered with Heat Pumps NOW to make a donation to go towards a new car for Dannie,” says Carol Bradley.

The idea of getting a new car, and having it assessed by the automotive experts at Kendal Vehicle Services prior to purchasing to make sure it would run smoothly was a lot for Dannie to take in.

“I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I was just blown away,” Dannie admits.

“We would like to massively thank Carol Bradley at Kendal Vehicle Services for her wonderful support during this promotion,” says Blair Ashdowne. They not only have assessed the car at no cost, but have supported in purchasing the car which is essentially unrepairable. Thank you so much!”

At Heat Pumps NOW we don’t just say we support our community, we live it out in action. To check out some of Heat Pumps NOW’s other community ventures in Christchurch, click here.