THE 'Keep Wasps Buzzing' campaign is set to prosper from the York Golden Jubilee Rugby League Festival, which takes place on June 3 at Heworth ARLFC.

A huge crowd is expected for the exciting new nine-a-side festival with "all or a sizeable slice" of the profits set to be handed to the working party for the York Wasps supporters' trust.

And the festival will be the finale to what could be a bright new dawn to York Wasps Rugby League Club - with the WaspAid festival to be held on the Saturday and potentially the first game for the club against Huddersfield Giants on the Sunday preceding the competition.

Tournament organiser Lionel Hurst, the former supremo of Super League dark horses London Broncos, confirmed to the Evening Press: "In a profit situation we will be more than happy to make funds available to the club.

"We are not planning to come to the city, make a load of money and then use it elsewhere. That would be pointless.

"It is also no good us just having this exciting festival in the city while a great club goes under. We will do all we can to see them survive.

"We'd have to look at how much we hand over but it will be all or a sizeable share for the good of the game.

"It is lunacy not to help. The whole reason we brought the festival to the city was to help improve the game and help it spread, but this has made it all the more important."

And fans' leader Gary Hall was delighted by the gesture.

"It is fantastic news," he said. "I've been in contact with Lionel for about three weeks about this.

"I've known him for a few years as he was at Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Club at the same time that I was working in the area, so when this all blew up I spoke to him about it.

"It is a fantastic gesture and should be part of a good weekend for both the club and the city, with WaspAid on Saturday and hopefully our first game back as a new club against Huddersfield on the Sunday."

* Hall is hopeful the Wasps can work with the tournament organisers to make the festival an annual fixture on the rugby league calendar in York.

The inaugural festival will see 16 sides - York Ironsides, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Cork, Dublin, North Wales, Cardiff, RAF, Royal Navy, Army, Teesside Steelers, South Asia, City of London, Les Hussards de Paris, and FC Lezignan - will descend on Heworth for the Bank Holiday bonanza, with all invited to join in the events over the whole weekend.

Updated: 09:10 Thursday, April 11, 2002