What do I have to do?
You'll see two buttons:
✅ "Yes, I can go" → lets your squad know you're attending.
❌ "No, I can't make it" → skips the slot (if more than 1 hour before start) and updates your squad.
⚠️ If less than 1 hour remains, the slot won't be skipped, you should attend as planned.
❗This feature does not replace the skip feature on the Volunteer Hub. If you know in advance that you can't attend a collection, please skip or unassign via the Hub.
Please note: similar to on the Volunteer Hub, you cannot skip a collection if it starts in less than one hour. If you tap 'No' and the collection time is less than one hour away, you'll receive a message letting you know the collection has not been skipped.
Please note: if you have an ongoing collection, you'll only be removed from the slot on that specific date. You won't be removed from all your collections at that store.
When will I be sent the reminder message?
10 hours before your collection start time.
You won't receive one if:
The store cancels more than 10 hours before, or
You claimed the slot less than 10 hours before.
If you confirmed "Yes" but the store later cancels, don't attend.
Please note: you won't receive a reminder message if you claim the collection less than 10 hours before the collection start time.
How long do I have to respond to the message?
You can respond until the collection start time.
If you tap "No" less than 1 hour before, the slot won't be skipped.
Missing the collection without responding counts as a missed collection (slots may be removed).
What happens if I don't respond to the message?
Your squad won't know if you're attending.
No action will be taken if you don't respond, but Olio may adjust this if many FWHs ignore the reminder.
Can I change my response?
No, you can only respond once.
If your plans change after confirming, skip or unassign via the Volunteer Hub.
What happens if someone in my Squad doesn't respond to the message?
There won't be a confirmation message in the squad chat for that volunteer.
Olio will monitor usage and may change how non-responses are handled in future.
Why isn't it mandatory to respond to the collection reminder message?
We don't make responding to the collection reminder message mandatory because more than 70% of Food Waste Heroes who don't respond still go on to complete their collection and list the food successfully.
We've also heard from volunteers that they don't always respond because they're in meetings, driving, or otherwise away from their phone at that time. Requiring a response would remove flexibility for people who are still fully committed to the collection.
If we made responses mandatory and automatically released slots when nobody replied, we'd need enough volunteers ready to claim those slots at very short notice. Our analysis shows that's unlikely to happen at the scale needed, so more collections would go unclaimed and more food would go to waste.
Keeping the pre-collection message optional lets us rescue more food overall, while giving volunteers the flexibility they need to fit collections around their day.
What are the rules around skipping my slot?
The standard skip rules still apply.
See our FAQ on skipping here.
How does this interact with the post-collection message?
Both messages are used together:
Reminder message (10 hrs before): confirms if you can attend.
Post-collection message (1.5 hrs after): tracks why listings may not have been added.