Wikipedia

User:Rock drum/Wikimedia UK

< User:Rock drum
Wikimedia UK
FoundedNovember 2008 (2008-11)
TypeEducational Charity
Registration no.Registered charity number: 1144513[1]
Location
Coordinates51°31′28″N 0°05′04″W / 51.524483°N 0.084477°W / 51.524483; -0.084477
Area served
United Kingdom
MethodPublic outreach
Members
255 (as of 1 August 2012)[2]
Key people
Chris Keating, Chair of the Board
Jon Davies, Chief Executive
Revenue
>£1 million
Employees
5
Websitewikimedia.org.uk
Formerly called
Wiki UK Limited
A local chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation

Wikimedia UK is a London-based charitable organisation. It is a local chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation and was founded in November 2008 and approved as a chapter on 12 January 2009. It was registered as a charity under registered number 1144513 in November 2011.

Goals edit

Wikimedia UK is a charity and its objects are:

...to promote and support the widest possible public access to, use of and contribution to open content of an encyclopaedic or educational nature or of similar utility to the general public, in particular the open content supported and provided Wikimedia Foundation, Inc....[1]

History and growth edit

Wikimedia UK v1.0 edit

An initial Wikimedia chapter for the UK was incorporated under the name of Wiki Educational Resources Limited in February 2006[3] and was the sixth group to have organised itself as a chapter. It was announced that it would be dissolved in late 2008 due to difficulties with bank accounts and its relationship with the Wikimedia Foundation.

Wikimedia UK v2.0 edit

 
Attendees of the 2009 Wikimedia UK AGM.

In January 2009 a second attempt at a Wikimedia chapter for the United Kingdom was made under the name Wiki UK Limited. The board of the Wikimedia Foundation approved it in January 2009 7-0 in favour.[4]

It was granted charity status by the Charity Commission for England and Wales in early November 2011.[5]

Original Board of Trustees edit

The initial board of trustees of Wiki UK Limited was:[6]

  • Kwan Ting Chan — Chair
  • Andrew Turvey — Secretary
  • Thomas Holden — Treasurer
  • Michael Peel — Membership Secretary
  • Michael Conn — Communication Officer

Employees edit

 
Chief Executive Jon Davies in the Wikimedia UK office.

For the first few years of its existence, tasks relating to the administration of the chapter were carried out by board members and volunteers. Though the number of employees has grown, the chapter's staff is still very small, and the bulk of work continues to be done by volunteers.

In September 2010 long-time Wikimedian Charles Matthews was hired for six months as a temporary "Office Manager".[7] The 2011-12 board of trustees elected to hire a temporary "Office Administrator" in Autumn 2011 to assist with the annual fundraisier. This position was filled by Richard Symonds who later became "Office and Development Manager".[8] The first permanent employee of Wikimedia UK was Chief Executive Jon Davies who was responsible for finding an office for the chapter.[9]

In early 2012, the chapter went through a surge of growth and hiring employees to organise events[10], communications [11] and fundraising[12]

Board members edit

 
The November 2011 Wikimedia UK board meeting, held at the British Library.

Following the 2012 AGM the board of trustees consists of:[13]

  • Chris Keating — Chair (until 2014 AGM)
  • Doug Taylor — Vice Chair (until 2013 AGM)
  • Michael Peel — Secretary (until 2014 AGM)
  • John Byrne — Treasurer (until 2013 AGM)
  • Roger Bamkin (until 2013 AGM)
  • Ashley van Haeften (until 2014 AGM)
  • Joscelyn Upendran (until 2014 AGM)

Ashley van Haeften began his term as chair but resigned and was replaced by Chris Keating during the year.[14]

Projects and initiatives edit

In addition to supporting community events and meetups[15] Wikimedia UK runs several outreach projects and initiatives.

Collaborations with the cultural sector edit

 
Attendees of a Backstage Pass at the British Museum, organised by Wikipedian in Residence Liam Wyatt.

In June 2010 Wikimedia supported the first Wikipedian-in-Residence placement at the British Museum.[16] He organised various projects during his tenure including a Backstage Pass event for Wikipedians, a Featured Article challenge and one-on-one collaborations between Wikipedians and British museum curators.[17][18]

In addition to collaborations with a number of smaller cultural institutions[19][20], Wikimedia UK has begun partnerships with The National Archives (utilising QRpedia)[21] and the British Library, assisting with the hiring of a Wikipedian in Residence.[22]

Collaborations with educational institutions edit

 
Wikimedians and students at an early meeting of the Imperial College Wikipedia society.

In 2011, Wikimedia UK supported the formation of a Wikipedia society at Imperial College, London.[23] Other outreach efforts to educational institutions include "wikilounges" and stalls at "Freshers' Fairs".

MonmouthpediA edit

Main article: Monmouthpedia
A short video about MonmouthpediA

Headed up by Welsh Wikipedia editor John Cummings, the MonmouthpediA project aims to improve content on Wikipedia related to the town of Monmouth and then allow residents to access the information through QRpedia codes.[24][25] The project led to Monmouth being described as the "world's first Wikipedia town".[26][27]

Finances edit

As with the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia UK relies upon donations to fund its projects. During the 2011-12 fundraiser, the charity raised over £1 million for the first time.[28]

In March 2012 the board of the Wikimedia Foundation ruled that only Wikimedia UK and three other chapters would be allowed to process payments separately from the Wikimedia Foundation during the 2012-2016 annual fundraising campaigns.[29]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Charity framework". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  2. ^ Symonds, Richard. "Re: [Wikimediauk-l] [WMUK Board] Statement regarding Ashley Van Haeften, Chair of Wikimedia UK". wikimediauk-l mailing list. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  3. ^ "WIKI EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES LIMITED". OpenCorporates. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  4. ^ "Resolution:Approval of Wikimedia UK". Wikimedia Foundation. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  5. ^ Kaye Wiggins (7 November 2011). "Wikimedia UK granted charity status". Third Sector Online. Third Sector. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Initial Board". Wikimedia UK. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Charles Matthews Appointed Office Manager" (Press release). 24 September 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  8. ^ "Office and Development Manager Appointed" (Press release). Wikimedia UK. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  9. ^ Vibeka Mair (7 November 2011). "Charity Commission approves promoting Wikipedia as a charitable purpose". Civil Society. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  10. ^ Chloe Stothart (20 March 2012). "Paul Evans joins football charity Street League". Third Sector. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  11. ^ "World's first Wikipedia town to launch in Wales". Tech Talk. CBS News. 18 May 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  12. ^ Andy Ricketts (3 July 2012). "Neil Henderson joins Barnardo's". Third Sector. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
  13. ^ "Annual Conference 2012 AGM Minutes". Wikimedia UK. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  14. ^ Niki May Young (3 August 2012). "Wikimedia UK chair resigns following ban from Wikipedia". Cilil Society. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  15. ^ "Meeting of Wikipedia devotees". Birmingham Mail. 6 June 2011.
  16. ^ Noam Cohen (4 June 2010). "Venerable British Museum Enlists in the Wikipedia Revolution". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  17. ^ Wikimedia with Liam Wyatt. YouTube: US National Archives. 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
  18. ^ Dunne, Helen (13 February 2012). "British Library seeks Wikipedian experience". CorpComms. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  19. ^ "In the know". Imperica. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  20. ^ "Wikipedia wants city history lesson". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 30 March 2012.
  21. ^ "QRpedia". Smart UK Project. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  22. ^ Duncan Geere (9 February 2012). "The British Library is looking for a Wikipedian-in-residence". Wired UK. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  23. ^ Sean Coughlan (22 March 2011). "Academics to 'embrace Wikipedia'". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  24. ^ "Wikipedia project to cover life in Monmouth". BBC Online. BBC. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  25. ^ "Monmouth to be Wales' first WiFi town". Monmouthshire Beacon. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  26. ^ "Welsh town of Monmouth gets Wikipedia treatment". Computer Active. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  27. ^ "Monmouth to be first Wiki-town". Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  28. ^ "Wikimedia UK raises over £1 million" (Press release). Wikimedia UK. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  29. ^ Ting Chen (30 March 2012). "Resolution:Fundraising 2012". Wikimedia Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wikimedia UK.

Documents (reports, plans etc.) edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Rock_drum/Wikimedia_UK&oldid=1092675812"