I am a retired maths teacher.

My 1973 Fellowship topic was Hurdling Techniques. My purpose was to study the techniques and training methods of the top coaches in Germany, Italy and Poland. At the time, I was coaching a group of sprinters – two of them showed potential in hurdling, so I became a hurdles coach. Within three years they were hurdling for Great Britain. I attended courses, read journals and wrote to coaches abroad, but I needed to work with them and my Fellowship gave me the opportunity.

When I returned I lectured about what I had learned. In Athletics Coach 3/75, Frank Dick wrote: The Italians developed scores of drills for sprinters and hurdlers and thanks to Sandy Ewen, via his Churchill Fellowship work, they are becoming very much part of the sprint coaches' training unit.

In 1976 one of my group, Elizabeth Sutherland, was awarded a Fellowship to study hurdling in South Africa. I went along, worked with their coaches and was invited back to do a two-week lecture tour. Invites followed to coach in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. Best of all, in 1981, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) sent me to lecture in China.

Away from my sport, I have spoken to school and church groups about the Fellowship and how it helped me.