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Literally millions of students in this country are being neglected in gospel work. Further Education (FE) Colleges have for too long been the forgotten frontier of student ministry. Many Christians hardly know these students exist, or are oblivious to the spiritual needs of the colleges on their doorsteps.

The facts speak for themselves: in the last academic year 2.35 million students were enrolled at FE colleges in England alone. Yet there are only 139 Christian Unions that UCCF know of, most of which have 2-5 members. Admittedly, many areas of Christian ministry are desperately lacking in resources, but at present there are only a handful of workers dedicated to FE colleges. As Steph Bushell, a student at Merton College, south London said recently: 'FE colleges are full of lost people as well'.

One year ago Claire Osborne walked into the Quinta Centre a confident graduate. She was looking forward to a year on the UCCF Relay programme 'meeting students for coffee and loving people'. All her illusions were soon to be shattered. The reality was that she was to be stretched and challenged more than she could ever have imagined.

'Relay' began as a response to UCCF's desire to put more people on the ground to work among students and to invest in and develop student leaders. It is now an established one-year training and discipleship training programme that has placed almost 400 recent graduates with Christian Unions across the country.

For a year of my degree I exchanged Irn Bru, ceilidhs, and a campus of 6,000 students for ice hockey, two feet of snow, and being one of 37,000 students at the University of Alberta. I also left behind a thriving Christian Union that packed in a good 200 each Friday night. In Canada, I didn't meet one Christian student.

This summer, thousands of students will be heading overseas on exchange schemes or as part of their degree. For the Christians who are leaving this can be a make-or-break experience. They often depart as unprepared missionaries, who struggle to find a church or Christian students they can meet with. Too many feel isolated and doubt their faith, or compromise their integrity.

A student's email to his CU captured the mood of this year's Word Alive: 'Since I've returned home I've not been able to stop sharing with fellow Christians what I have learned. Please do the same if you have not already - let's encourage each other.'

He continued: '...but let's not forget the lost. I have not yet had the opportunity to meet up with my non-Christian friends, and pray that my inability to keep quiet will be present when I do.' Like so many others, he left Skegness having been spiritually fed and armed for the year ahead.