Sola Café co-owner Kate Ewing doesn't know the man who's been popping into her Thames establishment for the past few weeks.

He's a quiet man, not much of a talker and usually stares at the ground. Kate's not sure but he could possibly live on the street and quite often the man looks like he's in a very dark place.

For the past six months Sola Café co-owners Kate Ewingand Clare Rodley have been paying it forward for the benefit of the Thames community. Photo: Sola Café

'A couple of days ago I put some breakfast down in front of him,” recalls Kate. 'He looked me straight in the eye, put his hand on my arm and he thanked me.

'He's been coming in, off and on, for a few weeks now and I don't know his situation at all, but it felt like a big thing for him.

'It was actually the first time I heard him speak.”

For about six months now Kate and business partner Claire Rodley have been operating a 'Pay it Forward' system at the café.

The system's been around for a few years now and Kate says she learned of it being used by businesses from a Buddhist friend of hers.

It's a simple setup: a customer can pay for a cup of coffee or meal in advance for a person who either cannot afford it, or if staff feel they would benefit from a random act of kindness.

That credit is then written down on a post-it note, sometimes with a wee personalised message, and slapped up on the café's ‘Pay it Forward' wall, which people can then choose from when needed.

'When you have a small community café you've got your ear to the ground, you know when people might be suffering a bit of hardship and you get to know the locals who come and go.

'Some people are quite shy so we do it randomly as well, we'll say ‘the next person with the red hat on' or people struggling to find the right change, something like that.”

Some of the post-it notes on Sola Café's Pay It Forward wall. Photo: Sola Café

Kate says the system has been used by a broad range of people and it's been very well received by those receiving kindness and by those extending it.

Most of the time people on the receiving end will come back and pay it forward too when they have the money, which keeps the system 'rotating and escalating”.

And the feedback from those paying it forward has also astounded Kate, who says they thank the café staff for providing them an opportunity to be generous towards strangers.

'The person buying it feels good, the person receiving it feels good, and it works brilliantly for us because we feel good about hosting it.”

Before you ask, yes there is the potential for the system to be abused and Kate realises this, but says people have generally been pretty good.

When it does happens, which is few and far between, they 'just deal with it” by having a quiet word with that person and that usually does the trick.

Kate is a huge fan of the system and hopes other businesses in Thames and the Coromandel will see the human benefits of paying it forward.

'I really encourage other people to do it because it's an interesting practice for everyone I think – your act of kindness will hopefully inspire people to see the potential in humanity.”

The Pay it Forward wall. Photo: Sola Café