Kitchen pack
Everyday kitchen basics to help you settle in without a first-week shopping trip.
Residence life programme
StayHope LVL UP
A degree gets you the interview. What you learn about money, health, work and people gets you the rest. LVL UP is how we invest in our residents beyond the lease.
Optional move-in packs
Arrive with the essentials sorted
Choose a pack before arrival and ask management to confirm availability and collection.
Bedding pack
Essential bedding to help make your room ready from your first night.
Why we run it
Because residence is where the real learning happens
Most students spend more waking hours in residence than on campus. That time either builds something or it drifts.
Open to every resident, at no extra cost, run through the academic year in the residence itself. No extra travel, no extra fees.
The programme
Five things we work on together
Academic support
Structured study hours during exam periods, peer study groups across institutions, and help finding tutoring when a module is not going well.
Money skills
Budgeting an allowance that has to last the month, understanding your NSFAS or bursary payments, avoiding debt traps, and starting to save on a student income.
Health and wellness
Mental health awareness, knowing the warning signs in yourself and your friends, sexual health, and where to get help without shame attached.
Employability
CV and cover letter workshops, interview practice, LinkedIn and professional presence, and how to find learnerships and internships before final year.
Community and outreach
Residence sports, social events and outreach projects in the community around our building. The CBD is our neighbourhood too.
Leadership
Residence representatives are trained and supported to run their houses, mediate between neighbours and carry issues to management.
How to take part
You are already in
Move in
Every StayHope resident is automatically part of LVL UP. There is no application and no extra cost.
Watch the residence board and group
Sessions, workshops and events are announced on the residence noticeboard and in your residence WhatsApp group.
Show up
Come to what is useful to you. Nothing is compulsory, but the students who show up are noticeably the ones who land the internships.
Suggest something
If there is a skill your residence needs and we are not covering it, tell residence management. Most of the programme came from residents asking.
Live somewhere that has a plan for you
Applications for 2027 are open at StayHope in Mbombela.