York City Knights have come on board as the newest members of Visit York, as part of a wider strategic partnership with Make It York. Spanning events, sponsorship and advertising, the partnership will see York City Knights working with Make It York across their wider community event programme over the next twelve months – including a range of corporate and resident-focused events.
This follows on from the announcement that the Rugby League World Cup will be coming to the city in 2021 – with York hosting five teams in total and a number of games, including both women’s semi-finals at the LNER community stadium. The tournament will have significant media reach with all games being broadcast live on the BBC across the world. A central focus of the activity across the city, both in the lead up to the event and during it, will be on community engagement and the cultural legacy of the tournament - which York City Knights will play a key role in, alongside Make It York and the other partners across the city.
Jon Flatman, Chairman of York City Knights said, “We are really excited to be working in partnership with Make It York on a number of projects and initiatives over the coming months. One of the club’s key focuses is how we engage with the local community and give back to the city’s residents, and we are keen to develop strong relationships with organisations like Make It York to integrate with community activity on a city-wide basis. We have been really impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment that the Make It York team have shown in supporting York’s businesses, particularly through this difficult time. It’s also been great to work with them on the Rugby League World Cup project which will have such a hugely positive impact on the city and the wider local economy.
“As with all organisations, the coronavirus outbreak poses challenges for us and we are keen to get started with the process of rebuilding, which is why we are actively looking to build these kinds of partnerships. We know that Make It York are working incredibly hard to develop a robust plan for recovery in the city incorporating Government guidance and feedback from local businesses, and we very much want to be a part of this important activity. I strongly believe that by working together with one unified approach, it is the best way for businesses across the city to collectively recover from the impacts of the pandemic and successfully rebuild.”
Russell McCartney, Head of Commercial & Revenue Generation said, “We are delighted to further develop our relationship with York City Knights through this new partnership activity.
2021 is set to be a huge year for rugby in the city on the international stage and it’s the perfect time for us to collaborate and build on this fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of York globally. Partnering with York City Knights is a great fit for us as they have such a strong community focus and we are looking forward to working with them over the coming months.”
For more information about Visit York membership or how to work with the team visit: www.visityork.org/members or email membership@visityork.com
