Terms of Participation

1. What AYOT is, and who you are dealing with

AYOT – Adopt Your Olive Tree is a social and land protection programme. It is sponsored by CHARITABLE CORTI, a charitable trust established under the laws of Jersey (Trusts (Jersey) Law 1984), Italian tax code 92078130520, registered office 82A James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Suffolk, IP28 7DE, United Kingdom, email info.ayot@gmail.com.

Charitable Corti promotes and collects the contributions that fund the programme, in support of its statutory purposes under Article 8 of its deed: the protection of the land, the environment, flora and fauna; the development of agricultural activities; cooperation with local agricultural producers; the protection of historic and artistic heritage; and sustainable tourism.

The olive groves, the trees and the oil belong to Azienda Agricola il Gallazone di Filippo Fabbri, Loc. Fontemaggio 25/b, 53040 Rapolano Terme (SI), Italy, P.IVA 01517560528, which cultivates the land, harvests the olives and presses the oil. It is the producer and the owner of everything that grows there.

In these Terms, "we" and "us" mean Charitable Corti, acting for the programme.

2. This is a contribution, not a purchase

Your payment is a voluntary contribution to the statutory activities of Charitable Corti, in support of the AYOT programme. It is not the price of goods or services. Nothing on this website is offered for sale.

The engraved plaque, the Certificate of Adoption, the seasonal updates, the olive oil and the nights at Il Fornacino or at a partner agriturismo are a thank-you offered by Azienda Agricola il Gallazone to those who support the programme. They are not the object of a sale, and their value is not the reason for your contribution.

Charitable Corti issues a receipt for every contribution, describing it as a contribution to its statutory activities, namely the AYOT programme.

The amount you see is the amount you pay. There is no additional charge added at checkout. Shipping is separate (clause 7), and so are any import duties or taxes your country applies on delivery.

3. Who can take part

You must be at least 18 years old and legally able to make the contribution. If you contribute on behalf of a company, you confirm you are authorised to do so.

4. The contribution

The contribution levels published on the website (currently one, five, ten and thirty trees) are annual. They are shown on 1 November 2026 as €350, €1,680, €3,170 and €8,980 per year. The amount you pay is the amount shown at the moment of payment.

The daily figures shown on the website are an indicative illustration obtained by dividing the annual contribution by 365 and by the number of trees. They are not a daily rate and do not create a daily obligation.

Contributions are received through PayPal and SumUp. We never see or store your card details.

5. What your thank-you includes

Depending on the level you choose, and only as a thank-you:

• your chosen name or dedication engraved on a handcrafted wooden plaque attached to your tree or your grove;
• a Certificate of Adoption in your name, issued as a PDF;
• a video of your plaque being made and a video of it being attached to your tree;
• seasonal updates: photographs of your tree through the seasons, a photograph of its production, and a video of the harvest;
• the olive oil produced from your tree or your grove, pressed and bottled and tinned with your name on the label;
• a photograph of your shipment being prepared, after the harvest;
• nights at Il Fornacino or at a partner agriturismo, for the levels that include them.

The exact sequence and timing depend on the season and on the stage your adoption has reached. The olive year runs from pruning in winter, through flowering in spring and ripening in summer, to the harvest in autumn.

6. What is not included, and what is not promised

• You do not acquire ownership of any land, tree or agricultural asset. This is a stewardship adoption, not a purchase of property. You become the custodian of a tree in spirit and in name, while ownership remains with Azienda Agricola il Gallazone.
• We do not promise a specific quantity of oil. The quantity depends on the harvest. You always receive the full production of your tree or your grove, and we never mix your oil with oil from other trees.
• Shipping costs are not included. See clause 7.
• Travel, transfers, meals and extra services during a stay are not included. See clause 9.
• The number of trees available can change. The programme covers the trees in production. New plantings become adoptable when they enter production.

7. Shipping

The oil is shipped by courier, through our shipping partner (Mail Boxes Etc. and the carriers it uses).

The shipping cost is paid by you. It is quoted by the courier on the basis of quantity, weight and destination. We send you the quote before dispatch, and the shipment is prepared once the quote is accepted and paid.

Shipping times depend on the destination and on the harvest. If your country applies customs duties, import taxes or clearance fees, these are payable by you on delivery and are outside our control.

We pack carefully. If a shipment arrives damaged, write to us within 14 days of delivery with photographs of the parcel and the bottles, and we will replace it.

8. Collecting your oil in person

You are always welcome to collect your oil yourself, at the harvest, in Rapolano Terme.

The harvest takes place between mid-October and mid-November. The exact dates depend on the weather and on the temperature, so they move from year to year: we confirm them to you each autumn. If you plan to travel to collect your oil, wait for our confirmation before booking.

9. Hospitality

Where your level includes nights, they are offered at Il Fornacino, our own agriturismo. If Il Fornacino is fully booked for the dates you want, we activate one of our partner agriturismi in the area.

• Nights are subject to availability and must be booked in advance with us, not with the agriturismo directly.
• Nights you have not used carry over, but only for as long as you keep adopting. If you renew your adoption in the following years, any nights you have not used are added to the new year's nights, so you can enjoy a longer stay later. If you do not renew, the nights still unused at the end of your adoption year are lost, and cannot be recovered by adopting again in a later year.
• Nights have no cash value, cannot be exchanged for money and cannot be refunded.
• Travelling to and from Tuscany, meals outside those included by the agriturismo, and any extra services are at your expense.
• Guests accompanying you are subject to the same booking and availability rules.
• Our network is made of family-run agriturismi. We cannot guarantee a specific room, a specific property or specific dates.

10. A poor harvest, and our commitment

The olive harvest depends on the weather, on temperatures and on pests. Some years are generous, others are not.

If a harvest is seriously compromised, we do not refund contributions. We extend your commitment into the following year, so that the thank-you you were promised is delivered when the land can give it. We tell you as soon as we know, with an honest account of what happened in the grove.

The same rule applies to events outside our control: frost, fire, drought, storms, pest infestations, restrictions imposed by authorities, or any other event that makes the harvest or the delivery impossible.

11. Choosing the name on the plaque

You can dedicate your tree to a person, a family, a memory or a message. Names must be respectful and lawful.

We may refuse, or ask you to change, a name or message that is offensive, obscene, discriminatory, defamatory, that infringes a third party's rights, that impersonates someone, or that promotes illegal activity or a political campaign. If we refuse, you are asked to propose another name.

If you dedicate your tree to another person, you confirm that you have the right to share their name with us.

12. Duration and renewal

An adoption lasts twelve months from the date of your contribution.

Renewal is not automatic. We do not keep your payment details and we never charge you without your action. Some weeks before your adoption expires, we write to you and ask whether you want to continue. If you do not renew, your plaque stays on the tree and your tree stays in the grove, but the annual thank-you, the updates and the oil stop.

Contributions already paid are not affected by later changes in the published levels.

13. If you change your mind

Your contribution sets work in motion immediately: we commission and engrave your plaque, we reserve your tree, and we prepare your certificate. For this reason contributions are not refundable in cash.

Instead, before we engrave your plaque you have the right to do any of the following, at no cost:

a) Change your mind about the details.

You can change the dedication, the name on the plaque, the shipping address or the gift recipient.

b) Postpone the start.

You can ask us to hold your adoption and start the twelve months later, up to a maximum of twelve months, for any reason.

c) Transfer it.

You can transfer your adoption to another person, once, free of charge. They receive the plaque, the certificate, the updates and the oil, and you keep your receiving of the harvest for the year in which you contributed until the transfer takes effect.

After your plaque has been engraved or your oil shipped, changes a) and b) are no longer possible, but the transfer in c) remains available, subject to the shipping cost of sending the oil to a different address.

Always refunded, without discussion.

• any payment made twice, or made by mistake, or made in the wrong amount;
• any contribution received after the programme has closed or the plan has sold out.

If we cannot deliver. If we are unable or decide to stop the programme, we return the part of your contribution that corresponds to the thank-you you have not yet received. If you have received nothing, we return the whole contribution.

Exceptional cases. Illness, bereavement or a genuine family emergency are not negotiating positions: write to us and we will look at the situation case by case. Anything we decide in your favour here is a discretionary gesture, not a legal right.

Because your contribution is a donation to statutory activities and not a payment for goods or services, the 14-day right of withdrawal for distance contracts does not apply. The options in this clause stand in its place, and they are offered as a matter of policy.

14. Misuse of the programme

We may decline or end a participation if the contribution is made with fraudulent or unauthorised means, if a chargeback is opened in bad faith, or if a participant behaves abusively towards us, the agriturismi or our guests. In that case, we are entitled to keep the contribution to the extent permitted by law, and to explain our reasons.

15. Our responsibility

We commit to caring for the trees with the diligence described on this website: permaculture principles, no pesticides, no additives, hand pruning, cold pressing within hours of the harvest.

We are not responsible for damages that are not a direct consequence of our conduct, for indirect or consequential losses, or for events outside our control. Nothing in these Terms limits the rights that the law grants you as a consumer, and nothing excludes our liability for death, personal injury or fraud.

16. Your personal data

We process your data as described in our Privacy Policy. The single contact point is info.ayot@gmail.com.

17. Photographs, videos and stories

The photographs, videos and certificates we send you are for you, and you may share them freely.

If you send us photographs, videos or stories, they remain yours. We publish them only with your specific consent, which you can withdraw at any time by writing to us; after withdrawal we stop using them, while copies already distributed cannot be recalled.

18. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. The version published on this website at the moment of your contribution is the one that applies to you. Substantial changes apply only to future participations, and we inform active participants by email.

19. Law and disputes

These Terms are governed by Italian law.

If you are a consumer, this choice does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory rules of the country in which you live, and you may bring proceedings before the court of your place of residence. Otherwise, the courts of Siena, Italy, have jurisdiction.

We will always try to resolve a disagreement by talking first. Write to info.ayot@gmail.com.

Version 1.1 · 1 November 2026