Make It York introduce Members Advisory Board

The introduction of the Make It York Members Advisory Board aims to support with the organisation’s activities, encourage membership and champion the city as the best place to live, work and stay. The Members Advisory Board will also take the role of constructive feedback, offering their insight into what they feel Make It York could do better and what they feel is most beneficial from their membership with Visit York. 

In October 2022, Make It York put a call out to their 800+ Visit York members, inviting them to apply to join the new voluntary Members Advisory Board.  

The introduction of the Make It York Members Advisory Board aims to support with the organisation’s activities, encourage membership and champion the city as the best place to live, work and stay. The Members Advisory Board will also take the role of constructive feedback, offering their insight into what they feel Make It York could do better and what they feel is most beneficial from their membership with Visit York. 

After 75 expressions of interest, 15 people have been appointed to the board with representatives from a wide range of sectors including attractions, accommodation, retail, corporate services, tours, advertising, blogs and more.  

The members of the voluntary board are: 

James Dickinson, Nettl 

John Gallery, World of James Herriot 

Martha Morley, Yorkshire Air Museum 

Jay Commins, Pyper  

Emily Pickard, York Mumbler  

Matthew Greenwood, Exploring York 

Alan Wellock, Your Creative Source 

Janet Scally, The Grand, York 

John Wright, York Carriage Awaits 

Neringa Didzgalvyte, The Star Inn the City  

Polly Bennett, Little Vikings 

Emma Godivala, York Gin 

Lorraine Wilson, YorGuest 

Stuart Jarman, The Potions Cauldron 

Lee Miles, Mountain Goat 

Sarah Loftus, Managing Director at Make It York, said: “We are introducing the Members Advisory Board to allow us to gain a more detailed cross-sector insight into what our members think we are doing well, and any areas that they think we could improve on. We are incredibly pleased with the response and support we have received from members so far, and we look forward to working even more closely together in the future. My thanks to Philip Bolson, who has helped us to develop and implement the board.” 

Philip Bolson from Mr B Hospitality: “The Members Advisory Board is about keeping Make It York relevant and keeping them focused on what matters to the businesses and residents in the city, and keeping it real, talking about what’s actually happening and what’s needed. Above and beyond that, it’s just supporting Sarah Loftus and the Make It York team, it’s a tough job promoting York around the world so anything that these advisors can do to help them be successful is a good thing.” 

Lorraine Wilson from YorGuest said: “I was born and bred in York and we get a lot of visitors that come and stay with us. We get lots of feedback from visitors, so this gives me a real opportunity to share that feedback and influence as much as I possibly can to make York a better place to visit and live. There’s a real variety of people in the group and it’s really interesting to hear other people’s viewpoints and I’m excited about the future of the group. There’s so much potential and we could make a real difference.”

Polly Bennett from Little Vikings said: “We've been a member of Visit York for about 10 years now and have some good ideas for helping York be the best it can be. By being in this room with all these great people, we can help York be on the map. We speak to people from attractions and families every day who tell us what they’re going to and what they’re not going to, so we can feed this back to Make It York and give them some pointers for the future.”