Local gifts for students: items you can only buy in Stroud
Sending your child off to university or college is a big step, and making sure they have all the essentials is a key job that as parents we take seriously. While you can find countless lists online suggesting everything from towels to dried pasta, what they don't mention are the personal touches from home that will make the world of difference in new surroundings.
Stroud’s farmers' market and local shops offer unique and thoughtful items that will remind your student of home and help them settle into university life.
A scented reed diffuser for
There’s a `no candle’ rule in most student accommodation, so a scented reed diffuser is the perfect alternative: a scented room and no flame. The College Green Sleep Easy reed diffuser is a blend of pure essential oils with relaxing properties including neroli, lavender and chamomile. It’s ideal for helping to create a calm space and will provide comfort for anyone suffering from home sickness.
The same blend is also available as a spray that can be used on pillows, as a room spray or on clothing for help with insomnia or any time life gets overwhelming.
Alternatively, College Green Peppermint & Eucalyptus reed diffuser is a refreshing, uplifting blend of essential oils that helps mask strong odours, such as the scent of musty towels or for a shared space.
College Green is at Stroud Farmers’ Market on the fourth Saturday of the month, or shop online.
A memory enhancing room spray
A blast of refreshing pure essential oils that enhances memory, concentration and focus from College Green is just the thing to wake up the senses when there’s a lecture the morning after a late night, and for revision sessions. Focus Room Mist is described by perfume blogger Stephan Matthews as “wonderfully uplifting ...piercingly refreshing.... uplifting and cheerful” simply spray it around a room, in a musty car or on clothing wherever and whenever needed.
Read seven simple tips to enhance focus and memory here.
College Green is at Stroud Farmers’ Market on the fourth Saturday of the month, or shop online.
Olive oil granola
Be assured they’re guaranteed at least a week’s worth of nutritious breakfasts with a jar filled with wholesome slow-energy releasing organic oats, almonds, seeds and top quality extra virgin olive oil from Rustic Puglia. Just to be sure, add a couple of refill pouches in too. From £5.50.
Rustic Puglia is at Stroud Farmers’ Market on the fourth Saturday of the month, or online.
Hand knitted hot water bottle cover
A hand-knitted hot water bottle cover from Cymbal Knits will provide comfort on cold nights and whenever a cuddle is needed. Each cover is unique, hard-wearing, and washable, made on a 1920's sock knitting machine.
Cymbal Knits is at Stroud Farmers’ Market on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month.
Ramen bowl
The perfect bowl for the student staple dinner, the stir fry. These gorgeous unique bowls are handmade with a clever design that holds a pair of chopsticks on the top, and your bowl will never be mistaken for someone else's. Little Earthquake Pots is at Stroud Farmers’ Market on the last Saturday of the month and at Made in Stroud shop.
Smoked chilli oil
A spoonful of smoked chilli oil will help the student stir fry taste sensational - just the thing for impressing house mates for shared mealtimes.
Stroud Smokehouse is at Stroud Farmers' Market every week.
Local honey
Pack a lemon and a jar of local honey and they’ll have everything needed to help restore a lost voice after Fresher’s Week. There are local honey stalls most weeks at Stroud Farmers’ Market including Giles Horton’s Cotswold honey (see photo, cash only) also from the Shambles Market in Stroud.
Stroudie keyring
A handmade Stroudie keyring will make dorm room keys stand out and remind them they're proud to be from Stroud. Available in three designs featuring the words Stroudie, Official Stroudie or Made in Stroud.
Available from Made in Stroud.
Made in Stroud t-towel
Every uni list includes a tea towel, so why not make it a funky one from home? Designed by local artist Stephanie Cole, these organic cotton tea towels feature beloved landmarks like the farmers' market, the Prince Albert pub & Winstone's ice cream factory on Rodborough Common.
Available from Made in Stroud shop.
People’s Republic of Stroud t-shirt & pin badge
A reminder that home is just as cool as university cities (if not more so). The People’s Republic of Stroud merch includes t shirts, hoodies, bags and even a pin badge. The logo features a wonky five-pointed star (representing the Five Valleys and the colour of peace) sat proudly in a red circle (the colour of revolution and a nod to the red cloth that was produced in the valleys) on a green background (a reference to the hills that are “alive with hippies playing guitars” and the billiard table cloth that’s exported worldwide from Stroud).
Available from the Subscription Rooms or online
Notebook
Jo Duck’s hand-printed notebooks featuring iconic Stroud buildings are perfect for journaling, reminders, or easy recipes from home. Also available as a tea towel (it's impossible to have too many).
Jo Duck Designs is at Stroud Farmers’ Market on the last Saturday of the month.
Window hanging
A colourful window hanging will add a splash of cheer and brighten the darkest of rooms. Liz Dart’s range include tiny panels attached to blank cards as well as larger panels that can be attached to windows with a suction hook.
Liz Dart Stained Glass is at Stroud Farmer’s Market on the first and third Saturdays of the month, and in Made in Stroud.
A tipple or two
Perfect for toasting a new room or getting the first house party of the term off to a decent start before they stock up on Echo Falls for the rest of the term. Seb's Cider is made from unsprayed organic Hereford apples and comes in pouches. Award winning, organic and all round brilliant Stroud Brewery beer is available in a four can taster box that includes the most popular Budding & Tom Long varieties. Days Cottage produces local apple juice, cider and perry from unsprayed traditional Gloucestershire orchards. There’s a whopping 1kg of apples in every 75cl bottle of apple juice.
Sebs Cider is at Stroud Farmers Market every Saturday.
Brain boosting chocolate drink
An indulgent treat that combines premium Peruvian chocolate with brain-boosting lion’s mane mushroom powder. It makes the most delicious hot chocolate drink and can be added to smoothies or stirred into overnight oats.
Coco Caravan is at Stroud Farmers’ Market on the fourth Saturday of the month, or from in Made in Stroud.
And once they're gone and you've returned home to a strangely quiet house, you'll know they'll have some home comforts to remind them of you.