Starting back at university at the beginning of September was a strange experience. Guy's quad was empty; there was hardly anyone in the student union café and even fewer in the library. Then suddenly, with the newfound chill in the air, our university campuses had come to life again - the freshers had arrived!

At the time of writing, Welcome Week has just happened at King's College London (KCL), and at universities all over the country. A new set of medical students have started out, meeting lots of new people, signing up to endless societies, and beginning a journey that will last for many years. At KCL CMF we took part in all the freshers' activities, hoping to guide and support new students and show them how they can grow in their faith as they train.

This year has been a busy one. Our four committee members have worked tirelessly to balance their own busy start to the year with organising supplies for the Freshers' Fairs and welcome events. We were able to have stalls at both the medical school and university Freshers' Fairs over three days; spreading the word about CMF, giving out copies of Nucleus, smiles and the obligatory sweets!

After many interesting conversations and sign-ups, we're very grateful to be able to welcome new members to our community, whether they have heard of CMF before or are exploring what it means to be a Christian medical student and, in the future, a doctor. This year, we were also blessed to be joined by members of the London CMF Nurses and Midwives group who were also able to welcome new students.

After Freshers' Fair came our welcome evening! We had a pizza and games night to start the year. It was a great evening of fun and fellowship, coming back together as a group after our summer break and meeting new faces both from first year and older years.

This year, we have organised an exciting new mentorship scheme where older students mentor younger students, allowing them to pass on their experience, be there for them in hard times, and most importantly, to support them in prayer. As a committee, we pray that this will be an opportunity for growth for all the students involved, both mentors and mentees!

An additional freshers' event was the London-wide CMF barbecue, which was an amazing opportunity for freshers to meet other medical students from across London and to enjoy some great food! It was also a chance to get a wider glimpse of what CMF does as an organisation, inspiring a new generation to get involved and join a community of healthcare professionals who seek to live and work for Christ.