Here are some of the best Christmas presents to gift your Bristol mates this festive season

You know the festive season is right around the corner when you see another Instagram story taken at the shoddy wooden huts of the Christmas markets in the city centre. Or, you may have noticed the aisles of big Sains have been flooded with advent calendars and infinite Celebrations tubs. Santa Claus is coming to (Bristol) town!

Thinking of a Christmas gift that will go down a storm with your uni pals can require a lot of brain power, and with the countless deadlines approaching, our ultimate gift guide will save the energy you waste pondering on what to buy.

1. A Tinder Plus subscription

The dawning of the festive season also means one thing, cuffing season is officially upon us. For those single ladies (or fellas) in your life, a Tinder Plus subscription is one step closer towards your mates being cuddled up with a beau by the fire post-Christmas.

Is there a possibility they will be offended by the acknowledgement of their single status? Potentially. But will they secretly love it deep down? Absolutely.

2. Hiking boots

Every Bristol student is painfully aware of the torturous hills around campus, something we’ve all learnt the hard way. A pair of hiking boots will not only save your pal’s feet but they’ll also be dripped out so hard and will stand out (for all the right reasons) among the sea of Adidas sambas and Doc Martens around uni.

3. Ear plugs for White Bear

It’s staggering that once you exit White Bear, you’re not immediately registered as partially deaf considering the extreme bass-boosted music that pumps out of the quaint little pub.

If you’ve ever been to the hot spot amongst students, you’re probably an expert in lip-reading all of your mates’ conversations by now. Ear plugs are a worthy investment if White Bear seems to be raking in all of your friends’ money on the weeknights.

They can go and enjoy some pints, chit chat and good people and leave without feeling like they now qualify for a blue badge.

4. A Sainsbury’s gift card

Are you really a Bristol student if you don’t devote your time (and money) to mooching around the aisles of big Sains in Clifton Down?

I can guarantee that receiving a gift card to the beloved establishment of Sainsbury’s will essentially feel the same as winning the lottery, allowing your mates to finally buy that Sainsbury’s finest pizza with real balls of mozzarella. Mmmm, tasty. Don’t get disheartened if they waste it all on Oatly semi-skimmed milk, however.

5. Cash (to use at Jason Donervan)

One of life’s greatest gifts is witnessing the beam on JJ’s face when you hand over cash to pay for your Jason’s order, instead of contactless. I think I can speak for every Bristol student when I say all I want for Christmas is to be called “my friend” by him.

6. A reusable cup

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or you simply don’t like coffee, the eagle-eyed of you will have realised that Source Cafes are now charging an additional 20p for takeaway cups. In these times of economic hardships, no penny should wasted, but this 20p charge is neglected if you bring along a reusable coffee cup. Not only will you be saving money, but the planet will be thanking you too. Greta will be so proud.

7. A crate of Red Bulls

Once the Christmas trees come down and the gloomy month of January hits, it is officially exam season. Why not help your mates out and gift them with a box of Red Bulls to help fuel the inevitable long nights that will be spent in the ASS? This one will get hearts racing, quite literally.

8. A £5 note

A fiver from the bottom of your bag might seem like a cop-out present, but every Bristol student knows the valuable qualities of something so simple.

Would your mate defend La Rocca until the Earth’s end? Are they fed up with going to the cash point every single Triangle night out? Well, a £5 note would solve this problem and they can dance the night away to cheesy music to their hearts’ content.

Or is your mate not a La Rocca rat? Encourage them to use the fiver to fund a Parsons meal deal instead. £4.50 for a baguette, sweet treat AND a drink is what Christmas dreams are made of. Plus, nothing will go to waste as oat milk costs 50p, so a little goes a long way, especially for the Bristol girlies in your life who love an iced oat latte.

9. DJ decks

Men used to fight in battle and now they’re amateur bedroom DJs.  If there’s a special, wannabe Nia Archives in your life, why not treat them to some top-notch decks?

This also doubles as a gift for yourself as you’ll no longer have to endure a quickly arranged playlist blasting out of a cheap speaker at pres. The downside is your mate might become the most insufferable person you’ve ever met.

10. An electric blanket

This is for the students in your life who either live in a house of stingy flatmates who are holding off turning on the heating for as long as possible, or their heating is so precarious it is practically unusable.

An electric blanket will not only keep them as snug as a bug in a rug, but imagine the sheer amazement when they bring back someone from Fishies and they’ll get to canoodle all night long in a warm bed.

11. Taste the Difference Sainsbury’s meal deal

Every time you’re in Queens Road Sainsbury’s grabbing a meal deal before your six-hour-long Wills’ stint, it’s impossible to ignore the Taste the Difference meal deal options. From Itsu noodle bowls to actual steak sandwiches, it’s something cheap skates can only dream of.

So, why not make your mate feel like a Churchill resident and splash the £5? They can get a literal taste of how the other half lives and it will make a dazzling difference from that chicken and bacon caesar wrap they get every time.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• How to celebrate christmas as a uni student, while still having cash left for presents

• ‘I don’t do bins’: How to address your nightmare Bristol housemate without making enemies

• Is La Rocca really worth that queue? 10 unpopular opinions about Bristol University