We thank God for Ewart and all those who have supported us in the past, the present and will do in the future – Sports Chaplaincy UK (SCUK) was formerly known as SCORE (Sports Chaplaincy Offering Resource & Encouragement).
Article written by Rev John Boyers (Founder of SCUK and Ambassador)
Percy Ewart Lockton – Ewart to all who knew him – sadly passed away on 8th February 2023, a former member of SCORE’s former Management Committee. We want to place on record our thanks to Ewart’s contribution to SCORE for several years from the mid 1990s till into the present century
I met him after we moved up to the North-West and became involved with Altrincham Baptist Church., where Ewart organised stewarding.
Ewart introduced himself to us as a Manchester United supporter and season ticket holder. He was obviously very interested in sports, was a member of the Altrincham Athletic Club and a keen runner. On hearing I enjoyed a bit of running but had not really found routes near our new home in Sale to compare with my old Watford routes – round Cassiobury Park and Whippendell Woods – he suggested we go for a run together one afternoon. As he was almost 17 years older than me, despite my lack of running in recent months, I agreed to run with him. I was thankful when, after an hour and a quarter, he suggested we could “take a turn here and be back at my house in 10 minutes – or there’s one 15 minutes ahead if you want to add another half hour to the run”. I opted for the immediate return.
Ewart was born in Heanor, Nottinghamshire, on 14th May 1932, the son of a grocer whose family were very involved in the local Baptist Church. He entered the family grocery business, took business qualifications, joined a national grocery chain, was head hunted by the Co-op to take a regional role, he headed up a national role with them. He was a born organiser. Fastidious about organisational detail, he reached the highest levels with the Co-op before his retirement. He offered his time and organisational prowess to me and to SCORE and became a member of SCORE’s Management Committee. Notes, plans and proposals were typed up in stunning detail and with incomparable clarity. It was typical of Ewart Lockton that his plans for his funeral service were set out in detail – readings, hymns, and a summary of his life. His enthusiasm for linking his Christian faith with his love of sport was to the enormous benefit of SCORE in the post-Watford years!
His contributions to the growth of SCORE into a registered charity known for providing quality chaplaincy care to elite sport will be appreciated and remembered by those who knew him. May he rest in peace and be raised in glory!
We pray for his wife, Phyllis, their Children John and Mary and their wider family at this time.