Alison Wheeler announced today the impending dissolution of Wiki Educational Resources Ltd (Wikimedia UK). It isn't clear from her message why she determined to fold it instead of pass on leadership to those interested. [1]
All other considerations aside, the Wikimedia community owes Alison and the other members of the WMUK board of directors a debt of thanks for their efforts over the last two years. More than anything else, its clear that creating and managing a charity as a volunteer in the United Kingdom is a difficult undertaking.
Nathan
[1] http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediauk-l/2008-August/thread.html
2008/8/28 Nathan nawrich@gmail.com:
Alison Wheeler announced today the impending dissolution of Wiki Educational Resources Ltd (Wikimedia UK). It isn't clear from her message why she determined to fold it instead of pass on leadership to those interested. [1]
She mentioned the company has debts incurred through the setup and no assets to pay them off - starting from scratch may well be the best option in that light (I don't know the extent of the debts).
All other considerations aside, the Wikimedia community owes Alison and the other members of the WMUK board of directors a debt of thanks for their efforts over the last two years. More than anything else, its clear that creating and managing a charity as a volunteer in the United Kingdom is a difficult undertaking.
But an undertaking we, the UK community, are committed to. Discussions regarding a new chapter are already underway.
Thomas Dalton wrote:
2008/8/28 Nathan nawrich@gmail.com:
Alison Wheeler announced today the impending dissolution of Wiki Educational Resources Ltd (Wikimedia UK). It isn't clear from her message why she determined to fold it instead of pass on leadership to those interested. [1]
She mentioned the company has debts incurred through the setup and no assets to pay them off - starting from scratch may well be the best option in that light (I don't know the extent of the debts).
She described it elsewhere as "some small liabilities", so I assume they're not too major. Nevertheless, given the history it may be more practical to start fresh.
--Michael Snow
Michael Snow wrote:
Thomas Dalton wrote:
2008/8/28 Nathan nawrich@gmail.com:
Alison Wheeler announced today the impending dissolution of Wiki Educational Resources Ltd (Wikimedia UK). It isn't clear from her message why she determined to fold it instead of pass on leadership to those interested. [1]
She mentioned the company has debts incurred through the setup and no assets to pay them off - starting from scratch may well be the best option in that light (I don't know the extent of the debts).
She described it elsewhere as "some small liabilities", so I assume they're not too major. Nevertheless, given the history it may be more practical to start fresh.
--Michael Snow
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If they are "small liabilities", would someone from WM UK mind contacting me off-list to see about making a donation to WM UK? I'm completely unfamiliar with the situation, but if it's simply a money issue, I'm more than willing to put up at least something.
-Dan
If they are "small liabilities", would someone from WM UK mind contacting me off-list to see about making a donation to WM UK? I'm completely unfamiliar with the situation, but if it's simply a money issue, I'm more than willing to put up at least something.
It's not simply a money issue. Frankly, I don't understand this decision at all, but I don't think it's really a financial decision.
2008/8/28 Dan Rosenthal swatjester@gmail.com:
If they are "small liabilities", would someone from WM UK mind contacting me off-list to see about making a donation to WM UK? I'm completely unfamiliar with the situation, but if it's simply a money issue, I'm more than willing to put up at least something.
-Dan
It's a general collapse issue. By folding WM UK at this point we can start to plan the way forward from a clean start.
2008/8/28 Nathan nawrich@gmail.com:
Alison Wheeler announced today the impending dissolution of Wiki Educational Resources Ltd (Wikimedia UK). It isn't clear from her message why she determined to fold it instead of pass on leadership to those interested. [1]
She has proposed it, it's not quite final (though I'm not personally interested in pushing that particular rock uphill). More back'n'forth is on wikimediauk-l.
- d.
Is Wiki Educational Resources Ltd the same as Wikimedia UK, or they are two different entities?
--Bence Damokos
On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 7:13 PM, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
2008/8/28 Nathan nawrich@gmail.com:
Alison Wheeler announced today the impending dissolution of Wiki
Educational
Resources Ltd (Wikimedia UK). It isn't clear from her message why she determined to fold it instead of pass on leadership to those interested.
[1]
She has proposed it, it's not quite final (though I'm not personally interested in pushing that particular rock uphill). More back'n'forth is on wikimediauk-l.
- d.
foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 19:17, Bence Damokos bdamokos@gmail.com wrote:
Is Wiki Educational Resources Ltd the same as Wikimedia UK, or they are two different entities?
WER is the official name of the company, and its "trade name", regulated by an agreement with the WIkimedia Foundation, is Wikimedia UK.
Yes, they are the same entity.
Best,
Delphine
On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 1:17 PM, Bence Damokos bdamokos@gmail.com wrote:
Is Wiki Educational Resources Ltd the same as Wikimedia UK, or they are two different entities?
Same entity. "Wiki Education Resources" is the legal name for the group we call "Wikimedia UK".
--Andrew Whitworth
wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org