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Clifton Cycling Club was founded in 1895 at the Old Grey Mare, Clifton Green, York and the first club run was held that year. A Ladies section of the club was founded in 1902 and women were admitted to full club membership in 1923 after which combined club runs were held monthly. The club had a cricket team in its first decades but only had a short existence. The club briefly merged with the Burton Lane Cycling Club during the First World War. The distance of club runs in the early days were determined by the state of the roads, with the club maintaining a ‘road-menders’ fund aimed to help make local roads amenable for cyclists.

The first club event was the '50-mile record', introduced in 1896. In 1906, a ‘100-mile Sealed Handicap’ was also introduced. During the early 20th century Clifton Cycling Club also developed a very strong hill climb team featuring Lazenby Lockwood and the record-setting Kate Green also was also a Clifton Cycling Club member during this period. Around the 1930s the club participated in an annual ‘Cyclists vs Harriers’ race.
The club has published its magazine, ‘The Cliftonite’, since 1936. In the mid-20th century activities such as club runs were documented in newspaper columns such as ‘Cycling Gossip’ and club members' results continued to feature in newspapers later in the 20th century.

The 1960 and 1970s saw racing members of the club such as Pete Smith, John Watson, Roy Cromack, Ian White and Dennis Pickard compete and attain victories at national and international levels of cycling. The club came to participate in a variety of cycling disciplines beyond social rides and time trials, going on to take part in mass start races, cyclocross, mountain biking and track cycling.

The York Guild of Building was established in 1954 under the guidance of Sir Peter Shepherd and a number of other leading citizens connected with the construction industry, as well as professional organisations within the city, to represent and provide a forum for all the skills which are required in the construction and maintenance of buildings. This representation inspired the Guild logo.
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The builders of medieval York included masons, glaziers, plumbers, plasterers and tilers and the largest of the entire group who worked in wood, variously described as carpenters, sawyers, joiners and carvers. Of these only four crafts became organised into Guilds: the Carpenters, the Masons, the Tile Thatchers and the Plasterers. However these Guilds came to an end in York in the early nineteenth century.

The Guild operates with a Court of Assistants under the leadership of the Master for the year, assisted by Senior and Junior Wardens. Five members of the Court are elected annually by the membership. In addition several organisations connected with the construction industry nominate representatives, together with York College. Membership is open to any person involved in any aspect of building and associated activities. The day to day running of the Guild is in the care of the Honorary Clerk.

The Guild is committed to the advancement of design, management, science and craft in building and the better understanding of the problems and achievements of those engaged in building.
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To support the objectives of the Guild a very full programme of lectures, talks and visits, complimented by a range of social activities is produced by the court each year.

York Scribes was established as a group in 1990 to promote calligraphy, illumination, and lettering through informal meetings, lectures, workshops, and other events. The group was aimed at participants across North Yorkshire, both beginners and experienced calligraphers. Pauline Hall, a professional calligrapher, chaired the group for the first few years before being made Life President in 1996.

An initial open meeting was held to gauge interest, which attracted 30 attendees. This group went on to establish the York Scribes and write a constitution. Membership later grew to, and stabilised at, around 60-70 members.

The group was established with the support of the London based group the Society of Scribes and Illuminators and of the Bar Convent's education programme. Meetings and workshops were held at the Bar Convent until 1993.

The York Society of Magicians was founded in 1945 by the then Lord Mayor of York, Harold Chapman de Bourg. De Bourg was a magician and wanted to establish a magic society in York to meet likeminded people. De Bourg invited other amateur magicians to Mansion House, where the inaugural meeting of the Society was held on 8th March 1945. At that first meeting the York Society of Magicians was established.

The society’s first headquarters were in the Rechabite building and then afterwards Middleton House in Monkgate.

The society started its ‘Night of Magic’ shows at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in 1951, which were held annually until 1987. The Society’s other activities include annual dinners, and monthly meetings where members discuss magic and share magic tricks.

The society includes amateur magicians, hobbyists and professionals. In some periods the society has had an active junior department as well as an adult society.

The society was closed down in 2021.

The Mister Ladies Bowls Club was established in 1971. The club was named after The Minster Inn on Marygate, York, where the club members used to meet. The club originally used Exhibition Green to bowl, which was located behind the York Art Gallery, before moving to Clarence Gardens, where they paid to use the facilities. The club was closed in 2017.

The Wigginton and Haxby Old Age Pensioners' Association was established sometime between 1947 (the earliest date at which one of the known founding members could have joined) and 1953 (when the surviving records begin), following the establishment of the National Pensioners' Association in 1937. The club members split in 1957, with the association continuing as the Wigginton Old Age Pensioners' Association with members from Wigginton only.

The club split from the National Pensioners' Association in 1981, and became known as the Wigginton Over 60s Club. It continued to operate under this name until 2017 when the name was changed to the Wednesday Club, to make the club more welcoming to members across the local area and to reflect the traditional committee meeting day. As of 2024, the club is still in operation.

The club is a subscription association, organised by a committee drawn from members. The committee meet on a Wednesday in the Wigginton Recreation Hall. Activities of the club have included talks and lectures, trips and outings, lunches, fetes, holding a raffle, and other social meetings and events.

The Friends of York Archaeological Trust was established in 1975 as a means of promoting archaeology and archaeological research while financially supporting the York Archaeological Trust (also known as York Archaeology). Annual subscriptions from members, known as Friends, support an annual donation made to the York Archaeological Trust, as well as other grants to support archaeology where possible.

In addition to these donations and grants, the group runs lectures and talks, and organises visits to archaeological sites and excavations for members, with the aim of promoting heritage education and public engagement with archaeology.