If you drive a small car, or are thinking about downsizing to a lower fuel use, more efficient smaller car for around town use, then you need to see the Hyundai Accent. This zippy little hot hatch has it all! Small on size but massive on features across the model range. We have a wide range of quality used vehicles like this one in our central Nelson Yard. Click here to find out more.
Ever since our humble beginnings in downtown Nelson in 1945 the Bowater Motor Group has been very focused on community involvement. We believe that you are only ever as successful as the support that you can give back. It is with this philosophy that we continue to be as involved as we can be in the wider Nelson / Tasman community.
This section of the website houses stories, links and content from a collective of organisations and events that we are involved with or support through sponsorship or partnerships.
The menu to the right has got comprehensive articles from those events, organisations and charities that we regularly involved with, click on the menu items to read more, or scroll down this page to keep up with events as they unfold.
If you think you have an event, organisation or group that would benefit from our community interest feel free to contact us.
Garin College's new van gets a workout loaded up with pupils and kayaks. Click to enlarge
We recently received a wonderful email from Robert Booth, Director of Boarding at the Garin College Hostel. He wanted to let us know just how pleased the hostel, and Garin College, is at the continued support Bowater Toyota have offered the college, and the great end results of that support. Along with the email was this wonderdul photo of the ADL Class about to head away for a kayaking trip in the new van.
It is a truly awesome feeling to be involved with an organisation so appreciative of the support given, and to see it in the smiling faces of the kids whose experience of education is just that little bit all the better for it. The Toyota Hiace is the perfect vehicle for the job - kitted out with seating for the students in comfort and style whilst surrounding the precious cargo in class leading safety along side all important fuel efficiency.
Chairman of the Nelson Tasman Region Hospice Trust John Peters receives a cheque from Z Bowater Motors CEO Chris Bowater and General Manager Matt Morris. Click to enlarge.
Some chartities and community organisations exist for a reason that many of us don't want to think about. A time when you and your family may need support the most. A time of loss and grief. A time of transition, and sometimes a time of fear, pain and sadness. A time that some families dread but a time that some families can deliver amazing strength and support to loved ones.
Hospice is one of those organisations. They collectively deliver a range of services that most of us put to the backs of our minds, until confronted with the harsh realities of needing them when our family circumstances reach a crossroads. Hospice heavily relies on donations and it's Hospice Shops to generate the funds to enable it to continue to deliver valuable Palliative Care and community support.
The Z Rutherford division of Z Bowater Motors are very pleased to be able to contribute $1,000 towards the continued delivery of services by Hospice. Chris Bowater, Z Bowater Motors CEO made comment at the presentation "Hospice really strikes a chord in Nelson and Tasman, but so few of us actually realise exactly the depth of work and care they deliver in the region. We are so proud we can support them"
John Peters, chairman of the Nelson Tasman Region Hospice Trust was excited to be on the receiving end of the donation. They receive 62% of their funding from the government, so every dollar donated really counts, "whether it's $10 or $10,000 we make the absolute most of it"
This years winners of the Bowater Toyota EcoFund are setting up our kids for the future by creating edible gardens in schools. Click to enlarge.
Sometimes thinking too much about the world we live in can be a little depressing, or extremely motivating if you are wired in more of a positive mode.
We are living in times of great change. Times where we see skills of old slowly fade away as we edge ever closer to the model of a disposable society as pressures on time and family compound and it becomes easier to make the lazy, quick choice for the sake of reducing stress. A world where eating all of the wrong things is an increasingly easy choice to make, and a world where childhood obesity is on the rise. Our diets are suffering, but most dramatically, the health of our future generations is suffering through an increase in screen time of our kids and a dramatic decrease in outside time. A time where there is an ever increasing disconnect between the food we eat and the effect it has on our bodies.
This years Bowater Toyota EcoFund winners are setting about bringing positive change into this equation. They are all about empowerment. They are a breath of fresh air and a bunch of people looking to effect great change from the grassroots up - quite literally!
There is a beautiful saying that is never more true in our busy lives today.
Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.
The same can also be said for gardening. In some regards even more so as it is a skill that runs through so many elements of one's life. The skills of nurturing, care and follow through. The creation of a sense of awareness and interconnectedness that children especially seem to respond instantly to. These were once vital skills that every family handed down in some way or another as almost every family had a vegetable garden that produced at least a portion of their food, and created resources for preserves and other homemade delicacies.
This year the team at the Bowater Toyota EcoFund were especially pleased to be able to present a donation of $2000 to the NEC KEGS Programme. The NEC (Nelson Environment Centre) is a charitable, not for profit, incorporated society that first started back in 1976 and is now the longest serving environment centre in New Zealand.
Garin College head teacher John Boyce receives a cheque from Tony Bowater, CEO of Bowater Toyota. Click to enlarge.
The way in which our children experience schooling, even secondary level schooling, has certainly changed alot over the last 20 years. The levels of appropriate, supported, responsibility of care elements are a factor in a multitude of activities that schools engage in. When schools participate in off campus activities there is a requirement for them to do so safely and responsibily. And we as a society expect nothing less.
Bowater Toyota are very proud to be able to assist Garin College with this. Over the years we have sourced the hostel a couple of safe, reliable and fit for purpose Toyota Hiace vans (click here to see the last time we meet them) as a part of their fleet requirements. Talking to Robert Booth, the hostel manager, it comes as no surprise that he, and his team, cover a lot of kilometers each week. They take the boarders to all sorts of after school activities, from football at Saxtons field to activities in central Nelson. This soaks up the kilometres, up to 40,000 per year without leaving town!
