{"id":4743,"date":"2026-04-01T14:05:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T14:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/?p=4743"},"modified":"2026-03-27T14:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:16:36","slug":"free-food-app-pensioners-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/olio-stories\/free-food-app-pensioners-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"How free food helps Jacqueline stretch a small pension (and give back)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><em>\u201cI simply love saving things.\u201d<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jacqueline from Brighton&nbsp; spent 31 years in South Africa, where food waste simply wasn\u2019t part of everyday life. So when she moved to the UK, the scale of what was being thrown away came as a real shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When a friend mentioned an app that was helping reduce food waste, she downloaded it that same day. That was three years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the time, her reasons were practical. Living on a small pension, Jacqueline needed help making ends meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cI am so grateful for having all this wonderful food which I could not afford if I had to buy it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image-1-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"small pension\" class=\"wp-image-4745\" style=\"width:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image-1-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image-1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image-1-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image-1.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What she didn\u2019t expect was the sense of excitement it would bring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Every time she opens the app, she never quite knows what she\u2019ll find. Fresh vegetables, desserts, cooked meals \u2013 something different every day. She plans her meals around whatever comes in, chopping and freezing anything she can\u2019t use straight away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cIt\u2019s like being on holiday and not knowing what you\u2019re going to eat that day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even the flowers now sitting on her windowsill \u2013 something she never would have bought for herself \u2013 come to her in abundance because of Olio and its <a href=\"https:\/\/help.olioapp.com\/en\/articles\/12277114-what-is-a-food-waste-hero-and-how-do-i-get-started\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">volunteers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A small thing, maybe. But for Jacqueline, it means a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image.jpeg\" alt=\"pension\" class=\"wp-image-4744\" style=\"width:600px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1\/2026\/03\/image-225x300.jpeg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But what really makes a difference is being able to give back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jacqueline doesn\u2019t just collect food for herself, but also for an elderly woman she visits regularly, who isn\u2019t able to go out and collect food on her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cI love seeing her face when I give her the food she needs.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That same instinct carries through everything Jacqueline does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cI simply love saving things.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does <a href=\"https:\/\/olioapp.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Olio<\/a> mean to you?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201c 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 \u2013 not for me, but for future generations.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI simply love saving things.\u201d Jacqueline from Brighton&nbsp; spent 31 years in South Africa, where food waste simply wasn\u2019t part&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":3958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-olio-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How free food helps Jacqueline stretch a small pension (and give back) - Olio | At Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jacqueline lives on a small pension in Brighton and was shocked by UK food waste. 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