Family comes first as Donaldson calls it a day

ONE of Guernsey's greatest ever bowlers, Nick Donaldson, has given up the sport after paying the price for success. The self-employed carpenter, who won the World Indoor Bowls Council men's singles title two years ago and lost in the final of the British Isles singles last year, has decided to call it a day.

'The main reason I have given up is because it's cost me a fortune over the past 10 years and my family has not had a holiday and are suffering,' he said.

'It has cost me about £3,000 a year to play bowls.

'I went away to play out of the island seven times last year and on three of those occasions it was a week to 10 days at a time.

'That is three weeks off work a year and, being self-employed, if you are not working you don't get paid.'

Donaldson has been Channel Islands singles champion for three out of the last four years.

'The main problem in bowls and many other sports in Guernsey is there is not enough sponsorship about,' he claimed.

'Hopefully, with zero-10 coming in and the companies not having to pay tax it will give them more money to sponsor sport and give the island back something that the island has given them.'

Donaldson said that the only sponsorship he has received over the past decade has been from the Parrot and Mariners Inn pubs.

'All sports need more sponsorship. The indoor bowls club has been struggling for the past 10 years because it has not been able to get any financial help from the States, who have said they have not got the money to give out,' said Donaldson.

He said he might consider returning to the sport in a few years' time.

'I have not really missed it yet, but when you are good at something you don't really want to give it up,' he said.

Donaldson, 47, has been playing bowls for 25 years, and has no doubts the sport is in safe hands though.

He agreed there were some promising juniors coming through the local ranks.

'There is no doubt in future that Guernsey can produce more world champions, if we can keep them in the sport, but they will need more financial help,' he warned.

He appreciates companies like NatWest and Norman Piette and many others plough a lot of money into sport and is calling on those that do not to follow their lead.

'It's about time some of the other big companies put more money into sport to help their local community. They will not be paying any tax on their profits and if that is the case there should be no problem doing it,' he suggested.

Income Tax have confirmed that if a company pours money, for example, into a sport or the arts, there could be a technical argument from a tax perspective that the money is not tax deductable.

It is accepted when a company sponsors it is going to get publicity out of it.

'We apply a pretty light touch from an income tax perspective and anything that could be considered charitable we give it a fairly broad brush,' said a spokesman.