OLIO collections and charities

Why have I lost my collection to a charity?

Whenever a charity is able to take on slots currently assigned to OLIO, they will always take precedence and replace the OLIO Food Waste Hero.

We know how disappointing it must be to lose a collection slot from one day to another. Unfortunately, we receive very little notice from businesses about this.

Hopefully, new collection slots will soon become available in your area and you will be able to start collecting again. Remember to update your notification settings to be alerted as to when a new slot becomes available.

Tesco collections: What to do if my store tells me that charities are not collecting?

The only way that a slot can be unassigned from a charity if they are not collecting is if the store raises the issue directly with Tesco HQ.

Unfortunately OLIO do not have the power to change the national collection schedule as it is facilitated by a partner organisation and has over 11,000 groups collecting including OLIO. Please don't email OLIO to request this change, as we are unable, and will have to direct you back to Tesco HQ.

Pret A Manger collections: I lost my slot to charity, but the charity has now stepped down. What shall I do?

Pret A Manger will always prioritise their surplus food donations to charities first and when there are gaps in the rota, they'll ask OLIO directly to recruit Food Waste Heroes.

When charities stand down, we create collection slots and these are then available on the Volunteer Hub to claim by Food Waste Heroes, we make these available on a first-come first-served basis. We work with thousands of volunteers on a daily basis so it’s not possible to follow up with individuals directly. Please update your notifications on the Volunteer Hub so you are alerted when a collection becomes available.