Wikimedia UK (WMUK), also known as Wikimedia United Kingdom, is a
registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definitio ...
established to support volunteers in the United Kingdom who work on
Wikimedia projects
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...
such as
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
. As such, it is a
Wikimedia chapter
Wikimedia chapters are national or sub-national not-for-profit organizations created to promote the interests of Wikimedia projects locally, by members of the movement. Chapters are legally independent of the Wikimedia Foundation, entering into a ...
approved by the
Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...
(WMF), which owns and hosts those projects.
Wikimedia UK started out as Wiki Educational Resources Limited (WER), but due to financial difficulties and other problems the organisation dissolved, and was replaced by Wiki UK Limited. After its first attempt to gain
charitable status
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definition of a cha ...
in 2009 failed, the group subsequently made changes to its charter in order to satisfy the charity criteria, and was recognised as a registered charity in England and Wales in 2011. During the same year, WMUK added full-time staff and established a permanent office in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England.
The chapter has several collaborations with museums and other institutions, and has organised events for volunteers aimed at adding content to Foundation projects. In its early years, several of the organisation's board members were involved in controversies related to their contributions to Wikipedia, including claims that the
Gibraltarpedia collaboration organised by a trustee was being used for promotional purposes.
History
The first iteration of Wikimedia UK (WMUK) was founded as Wiki Educational Resources Limited (WER) and was incorporated on 14 February 2006, with Alison Wheeler serving as chair of the board and
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
of WER.
WER faced several problems during its time as a chapter organisation that included difficulty in its financing efforts and in its relationship with the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF). Its persistent financial difficulties left the organisation with debts it was unable to pay, and on 28 August 2008 Wheeler announced on the WMUK mailing list that she was planning to call an
Extraordinary General Meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wo ...
to decide on a proposal to dissolve the group. Wiki Educational Resources formally dissolved on 31 March 2009.
[
Wiki UK Limited was incorporated as a private not-for-profit company under the ]Companies Act 2006
The Companies Act 2006 (c. 46) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which forms the primary source of UK company law.
The act was brought into force in stages, with the final provision being commenced on 1 October 2009. It largel ...
on 5 November 2008 and, after the WMF terminated recognition of its predecessor, the organisation was officially recognised as a chapter in January 2009. It applied for official recognition of charitable status to HM Revenue and Customs
His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a department of the UK government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of stat ...
(HMRC) the same year, but was denied. HMRC argued that WMUK's purpose of freely disseminating information through Wikipedia would not qualify as charitable unless it included teaching and education as part of its activities. Andrew Turvey, secretary of the WMUK, responded to the ruling by pledging to seek legal advice before appealing the decision. Following the rejection of its registration-application by HMRC, Wikimedia UK amended its constitution by adopting new Articles of Association derived from an approved model for charitable status and applied to the Charity Commission
The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...
for registration as a charity, which was granted in November 2011 once WMUK had met the commission's minimum income requirement of £5,000. The Charity Commission had initially rejected WMUK's application as an educational charity, but ultimately was able with a little help from WMUK's legal advisers to register it as a library-resource charity.
A year later, Wikimedia UK hosted the three-day Wikimedia Fundraising Summit in Bristol. Christopher Brown of Bristol 24-7 described this as the first time the group had "hosted an event of this importance to the global movement". The following January, WMUK organised a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia's founding at University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
, together with other groups such as the Bristol City Council
Bristol City Council is the local authority for the city of Bristol, in South West England. Bristol has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1996 the council has been a unitary authority, being ...
and Bristol Festival of Ideas. Co-founder Jimmy Wales
Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known as Jimbo Wales, is an American List of Internet entrepreneurs, Internet entrepreneur and former Trader (finance), financial trader. He is a Founders of Wikipedia, co-founder of the non-profi ...
gave a public lecture at the celebration. During its 2011 annual conference, Wikimedia UK announced its plans to open a permanent office and hire full-time staff within a year.
During its efforts to establish a full-time staff, Wikimedia UK was assisted by several groups and individuals such as the president of Wikimedia Deutschland
Wikimedia Deutschland (also known as WMDE, Wikimedia Germany, and the Society for the Promotion of Free Knowledge) is a German non-profit association based in Berlin. It was founded in 2004 and recognized that year as the first national chapter ...
and prospect-us, a recruitment agency specialising in non-profits, who helped vet candidates for the position of CEO. After introducing the final three CEO candidates to the community at a London 'wikimeet' in September, WMUK announced on the 26th of that month that it had chosen Jon Davies, former CEO of Families Need Fathers
Families Need Fathers - Both Parents Matter (FNF), founded in 1974, is a registered charitable social care organization in the United Kingdom that offers information, advice, and support to parents whose children's relationship with them is under ...
, for the position.
In a renewed effort to gain official recognition of charitable status, the board of WMUK had called an EGM to approve amended Objects and related charitable clauses in its Memorandum and Articles of Association
In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document that, along with the memorandum of association (where applicable), forms the company's constitution. The ...
pursuant to the advice of their legal team and the Charity Commission. At the meeting, the proposed amendment was passed by a vote of 49 to none. The Commission registered the company as a charity in November 2011, thereby allowing it to claim the Gift Aid
Gift Aid is a UK tax incentive that enables tax-effective giving by individuals to charities in the United Kingdom. Gift Aid was introduced in the Finance Act 1990 for donations given after 1 October 1990, but was originally limited to cash gi ...
tax incentive from HMRC on its donations from UK taxpayers. In its ruling, the Commission said that WMUK provided a "public resource" by supporting public access to information through Wikipedia. As it did not serve the charitable purposes specifically outlined in the 2006 Charities Act
The Charities Act 2006 (c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to alter the regulatory framework in which charities operate, partly by amending the Charities Act 1993. The act was mostly superseded by the Charities Act ...
, the ruling referred to a provision of the act allowing for considerations based on case law. Jonathan Burchfield, a partner from the law firm that represented WMUK in its application, stated that the ruling was unprecedented in charity law. During the proceedings, the group had to prove to the Commission that there were tight controls over Wikipedia content to prevent abuse. Following the ruling, Wikimedia UK stated it would have a fundraising effort aimed at raising a million pounds to support Foundation projects.[ The chapter opened its new offices in ]central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...
on 14 November, changing its registered address from its previous location in Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
.
At its 2012 annual conference on 12 May, public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
experts gave a presentation on their efforts to collaborate with Wikimedia. Board member Steve Virgin described these efforts to work with the PR industry as "a positive first step" in establishing best practices to address concerns about the industry's work and conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia. In response to the controversy surrounding Gibraltarpedia, the Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...
announced that it was taking control of UK-based donations to the organisation and was appointing an independent investigator to inquire into WMUK's governance standards and processes. The review of WMUK's governance, jointly commissioned by the Wikimedia Foundation and WMUK in October 2012, was carried out by Compass Partnership. The report, released on 7 February 2013, found that the charity's reputation was damaged, and that trustees' conflicts of interest were poorly managed.
Activities
Wikimedia UK has organised or supported many volunteer efforts to contribute to Foundation projects. One such effort was a month-long competition in February 2010 called 'Britain Loves Wikipedia' aimed at increasing the amount of freely licensed images available for use on Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...
and Wikipedia. Participants photographed exhibits at participating museums in order to win cash and other prizes. WMUK has sponsored similar events since then, as well as 'edit-a-thons' in order to generate content for Foundation projects.
The organisation has collaborations with other institutions such as The National Archives
National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention.
Conceptual development
From the Middle Ages i ...
and the British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, with event attendees given tours of the institutions so that content can be added to Wikipedia and its sister sites. Wikimedia UK has also worked with the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (also known as the Herbert) is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre, media studio and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, England.
Overview
The museum is named after Alfred Herbert, ...
in Coventry
Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
.[
Wikimedia UK also operates ]QRpedia
QRpedia is a mobile Web-based system which uses QR codes to deliver Wikipedia articles to users, in their preferred language. A typical use is on museum labels, linking to Wikipedia articles about the exhibited object. QR codes can easily be ge ...
, which uses QR codes in museums, archives, and other venues, so that people viewing exhibits and collections can instantly see related Wikipedia content on mobile devices, in their preferred language, where available.[ Rights in QRpedia are owned by Cultural Outreach Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of WMUK. WMUK pledged in 2012 that it would provide support to a six-month programme establishing a full-time paid ]Wikipedian in Residence
A Wikipedian in residence or Wikimedian in residence (WiR) is a Wikipedia editor, a Wikipedian (or Wikimedian), who accepts a placement with an institution, typically an art gallery, library, archive, museum, cultural institution, learned soc ...
position at the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, the longest-lasting position of its kind. Its efforts have included support for the Monmouthpedia and Gibraltarpedia projects.[
]
Controversies
After obtaining charitable status, Wikimedia UK was exposed to controversies that have received international attention.
Chairman resigns
One such case concerned the group's previous chair, Ashley van Haeften. In July 2012, Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee ruled that he had violated policies regarding use of multiple accounts and had behaved in an uncivil manner when faced with concerns about sexually explicit material. Although the Committee stated that van Haeften had been subjected to harassment, it also found that he had not been separating harassment from legitimate criticism. The case resulted in him being banned from contributing to the English Wikipedia for an indefinite period. Despite the results of the case, Wikimedia UK's board supported van Haeften remaining in his position as chair and praised his work with the group. The board's decision was met with criticism from some members of the organisation, who proposed an extraordinary general meeting
An extraordinary general meeting, commonly abbreviated as EGM, is a meeting of members of an organisation, shareholders of a company, or employees of an official body that occurs at an irregular time.' The term is usually used where the group wo ...
that would discuss removing him from the board. CEO Jon Davies subsequently announced on 2 August 2012 that van Haeften was resigning from his position as chair to avoid creating division within the organisation, but he retained his position as a board member and remained chair of the Wikimedia Chapters Association. Chris Keating was subsequently elected to replace him as chairman of the board.
Gibraltarpedia
Another member of Wikimedia UK's board of trustees, Roger Bamkin, was exposed to controversy in 2012 due to his involvement with Gibraltarpedia. During the month of August, material about Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
appeared on the front page of Wikipedia 17 times in the "Did you know..." section as a result of the work on Gibraltarpedia. In several instances, Bamkin reviewed these entries and, as he was receiving payment from the government of Gibraltar in connection with his work on Gibraltarpedia, editors raised concerns that the project was using Wikipedia's front page to promote the territory of Gibraltar in exchange for financial compensation. Gibraltar's government later stated on 21 September that their contract with Bamkin did not involve him being paid for work on Wikipedia but was limited to providing advice on the QR codes and training volunteers.
Bamkin's involvement with Wikimedia UK as a board member while performing work on the project prompted further concerns about his position with the group. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales stated on 17 September that, if the claims about paid editing were well-founded, it was inappropriate for Bamkin to sit on the board of Wikimedia UK given its charitable status. Wales then suggested he resign from the board of the organisation or end his work with the government of Gibraltar.[ On 20 September, Bamkin resigned from the board of Wikimedia UK following a mutual decision by the board supporting the move in response to the concerns about Gibraltarpedia.]
The level of WMUK's participation was also brought into question regarding the situation with Gibraltarpedia.[ While the organisation does not prohibit paid editing, its support of Bamkin's activities was criticised as potentially inconsistent with its charitable status.] In a press release following his resignation, the organisation stated that it had provided minimal material support for the effort, that Bamkin had disclosed his commercial interests, and that he had not been involved in the group's decisions regarding the project.[
]
Grant Shapps
In April 2015, a WMUK employee blocked an account on English Wikipedia he claimed was associated with then Chairman of the Conservative Party
The chairman of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom is responsible for party administration and overseeing the Conservative Campaign Headquarters, formerly Conservative Central Office.
When the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives are ...
Grant Shapps
Sir Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from August 2023 to July 2024. Shapps previously served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, cabinet posts, including Chairman of ...
. The employee, a LibDem activist,[ did so after discussing the accusations with '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' newspaper using his WMUK email. English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee censured the editor for his actions, claiming there was "no significant evidence" linking the blocked account to Shapps. In July Shapps filed a Data Protection Act request, asking for WMUK communications concerning him. WMUK sent Shapps 80 pages of data, but claimed that most emails about the incident had been "deleted in the normal course of business". Shapps described the deletion as "highly suspect". In one email released, a member of the WMUK board states "We should be glad that Shapps has a pretty safe seat, because if he lost his seat, we would be open to the accusation that the charity had acted in a partisan manner during an election period". D'Arcy Myers, then interim Chief Executive of WMUK, refused to apologise to Shapps, stating that the charity was "not involved" in the controversy.[
]
Board of trustees
The current Board of Trustees for Wikimedia UK can be found on their site.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Charities based in London
Media and communications in the London Borough of Southwark
Organisations based in the London Borough of Southwark
Wiki communities
Wikimedia Foundation
Articles containing video clips
Wikimedia chapters