“I simply love saving things.”
Jacqueline from Brighton spent 31 years in South Africa, where food waste simply wasn’t part of everyday life. So when she moved to the UK, the scale of what was being thrown away came as a real shock.
When a friend mentioned an app that was helping reduce food waste, she downloaded it that same day. That was three years ago.
At the time, her reasons were practical. Living on a small pension, Jacqueline needed help making ends meet.
“I am so grateful for having all this wonderful food which I could not afford if I had to buy it.”
What she didn’t expect was the sense of excitement it would bring.
Every time she opens the app, she never quite knows what she’ll find. Fresh vegetables, desserts, cooked meals – something different every day. She plans her meals around whatever comes in, chopping and freezing anything she can’t use straight away.
“It’s like being on holiday and not knowing what you’re going to eat that day.”
Even the flowers now sitting on her windowsill – something she never would have bought for herself – come to her in abundance because of Olio and its volunteers.
A small thing, maybe. But for Jacqueline, it means a lot.
But what really makes a difference is being able to give back.
Jacqueline doesn’t just collect food for herself, but also for an elderly woman she visits regularly, who isn’t able to go out and collect food on her own.
“I love seeing her face when I give her the food she needs.”
That same instinct carries through everything Jacqueline does.
The money she saves on food goes to charities she cares about. Unneeded items go to charity shops. Plants left out on the street are taken home, cared for, and given a second life. If she finds something being fly-tipped, she passes it on to someone who can use it.
“I simply love saving things.”
What does Olio mean to you?
“ I recycle everything, I save plants and restore them, and I love rescuing things from going to waste. Olio makes me feel that I am helping to save the planet – not for me, but for future generations.”