Everyday essentials and travel - University of Staffordshire

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We know that it's the little things that make a place feel like home. Whether it's eating your favourite snack from home or receving packages from your family, here's everything you need to navigate everyday life in the UK.

Food

Many of the large supermarkets sell food as well as clothing and homeware. The closest supermarkets to the Stoke campus are Aldi, Sainsbury's and a small Asda. Many others are a short bus ride away. There are also smaller convenience stores.

To find out more about these supermarkets, where they are, and what they can offer, look at their websites: Tesco, Aldi,Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Asda, Lidl, The Co-op and Iceland. Many supermarkets in the local area feature a small selection of world foods that you may be familiar with, but they may be more expensive than you're used to paying at home.

Stoke and Staffordshire have lots of world food stores. Just a short walk from campus, you can find stores stocking Caribbean, Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysian, Korean, Thai, Indian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Eastern European foods.

You'll also find a great selection of restaurants in the local area where you'll find a taste of home, including Japanese, Thai, Bangladeshi and many more.

Shopping

Clothing

For clothing shopping, there are many options in the Hanley Potteries Centre or Festival Park. If you are looking for a large shopping center, a mall or city shopping experience, you can find many options at the Trafford Centre, or travel via train into Manchester or Birmingham city centre. If you are looking for traditional or modest dress, there is a great selection near to campus, and further afield in Manchester.

Homewares

We know that you won't be able to bring home comforts with you when you join us. Fortunately, our campus is within walking distance of a range of affordable homewares stores where you can purchase bedding, soft furnishings and cookware. These include B&M, The Range and Dunelm.

Sending and receiving packages

Post Office

There is a Post Office on College Road just a few minute's walk from campus. Here, you can send parcels internationally, and their friendly staff will be able to explain to your the cost of postage. Parcels sent from the Post Office are sent via Royal Mail.

For more information on post offices and the services offered, please visit the post office website.

Delivery services

There are also a range of other ways to send and receive parcels outside of using Royal Mail. These include services such as DHL, DPD and Evri. Many of these services include the option to drop off, or receive your parcel via a parcel locker. These are often found near convenience stores, supermarkets, and petrol stations. The shipping service website will be able to provide you with a list of drop off/pick up locations.

Healthcare

Caring for your health is vital when you're studying away from home. In the UK, healthcare is easily accessible to everyone providing you have registered for our health services.

If you have a minor illness or injury you may not need to seek formal medical advice, but instead choose to go to a chemist, also known as a 'Pharmacy'. Here you can pick up pain relief, low dose medicines and first aid items such as plasters and relief creams. You can also pick up items like this in supermarkets, and some supermarkets may have a chemist counter in the store.

Travel

Stoke is in a fantastic central location for you to explore the UK. Linked by a main line train line, you’ll have easy access to major cities, or you can reach many more places by coach travel. It’s easy and cheap to get around Stoke and Staffordshire by hopping on and off the local bus services.

Bus

If you want to go into Hanley or Newcastle from the campus, you can get a bus - especially if the weather is bad! You can get on a bus at a bus stop – where there’s a ‘bus stop’ sign or bus shelter. The number on the front of a bus relates to a route and usually shows the destination.

When the bus approaches, raise your arm a little so the bus driver knows that you want the bus to stop. Tell the driver where you want to go and whether you want a single or return journey. Keep hold of your ticket in case an inspector wishes to see it or if it is a return ticket to show the bus driver on the return journey. On many of our city's bus services, you may also be able to 'tap' on and off, using your mobile phone or contactless payment card.

If you expect to be using the bus a lot, you can get weekly and monthly tickets which can work out cheaper than buying tickets for each journey. You can ask for more information at Hanley bus station.

Train

Train travel is expensive but there are ways for you to save money. It’s cheaper to travel outside of peak times. Peak times are Monday – Friday 6.30 - 9.30 and 16.00 - 19.00.

It’s important you buy the correct type of ticket – if you buy your ticket at the train station then the staff will be able to help you. Saver Single/Return, Super Saver Single/Return or Cheap Day Single/Return tickets can only be used outside of peak time and usually on a booked train. Standard Open Single/Return can be used at any time.

Booking your tickets more than two weeks in advance will usually save you money, especially if you wish to go to London. In some cases, the earlier you book your tickets, the more money you will save.

You can buy a Young Persons Railcard which will save you 1/3 on rail fares for one year. This is valid if you are aged 16 – 25 or if you are 26 or over and a full-time student.

For train timetables, go to the National Rail Enquiries.

Coach

Coach is another term for bus. However, they are different from the local bus service as they go much further, are more comfortable and you usually buy your ticket before you get on.

Coaches stop in more places than trains and are often much cheaper. However, journeys will usually take longer. To save money you can get a Young Persons or Student Coachcard which will save you up to a 1/3 on coach journeys for one year. See National Express for more information and cost. They offer “fun fares” which are very cheap seats. The more in advance you book, the more money you will save.

MegaBus can offer very cheap seats but the trick is to buy a ticket far in advance. You can travel from larger bus stations such as Birmingham or Manchester which have more travel links and are easy to get to from Stoke.

Taxi

Taxis are very useful if you are carrying lots of luggage, travelling in a small group or if you need to travel late at night or early in the morning. It can be expensive, so decide if it would be better to use another form of transport.

In Stoke you must not hail a taxi in the street – this isn’t safe and you may not be insured. You can phone a taxi company to book a taxi – tell them your name, where you are, where you want to go and how many people there’ll be. It’s recommended that you ask how much a journey is likely to cost before getting into the taxi.

It’s common to tip the driver after the journey – usually about 10% of the total cost.

Here are some numbers for local taxi firms, you may also be able to book a car online via their website:

City Cabs 01782 844444
City Centre Central 01782 811 811

You may also want to use the ride service, Uber. If choose this service, please make sure you follow their guide to do so safely.

Citizens Advice Bureau

The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) provides help on social security benefits, personal debt, housing, employment disputes and immigration issues. They also offer specialist help to victims of crime.

Stoke-on-Trent Citizens Advice Bureau, Cheapside, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST1 1HL.