Dear all,
I hope you had a lovely long weekend. I’m Ziski from the Wikimedia
Foundation’s Global Advocacy team; I’m based in London and have been
fortunate to meet some of you. I am reaching out with an* important update
about UK regulatory affairs. *
On 8 May, 2025, the Wikimedia Foundation announced a legal challenge
against a new element of the UK Online Safety Act,
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2023/09/19/wikimedia-foundation-calls-…>which
could have detrimental effects for Wikipedia. This is an aspect of the same
law that the Foundation has been warning the government about in
parliamentary debates and an open letter campaign, which many of you
supported. We are bringing a legal challenge because the negative impacts
that this law threatens to have on Wikipedia have not been addressed.
The challenge targets the Categorisation Regulations, which are currently
so broadly written that Wikipedia could be classified as a “Category 1”
service. As a Category 1 service, Wikipedia could face duties that would
threaten our mission, for example, by disempowering users who wish to keep
their identity private. In
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/08/wikimedia-foundation-brings-legal-cha…>this
blog post
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/05/08/wikimedia-foundation-brings-legal-cha…>
you
can learn more about our legal challenge.
The Foundation will also be hosting a Zoom call on Tuesday, May 13 @ 18:00
- 19:00 BST to answer any questions you may have. Please register for the
call *via this link
<https://wikimedia.zoom.us/meeting/register/yG-qXyR0RAStKsDVMmhtIA>.*
Best wishes,
Ziski
Franziska Putz (she/her)
Senior Movement Advocacy Manager
Global Advocacy, Wikimedia Foundation
Fputz(a)wikimedia.org
UTC Timezone
Dear all
Wikimedia UK will be holding our 2025 AGM on Saturday 27th September. The
meeting will be online from 10am to 11.30am and will feature:
-
Elections for new Trustees
-
Voting on resolutions from the Board and Members
-
Reports from the Chair, Chief Executive and Honorary Treasurer
-
Presentation of new Honorary Memberships
We will share details of how to stand for election, or propose a
resolution, nearer the time.
To vote at the AGM and to stand for the board you need to be a Wikimedia UK
member. This now costs a minimum of £1 a year so please consider signing up
here <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Membership> if you are not already a
member.
As in the previous two years we will have a Community Day later in the year
(probably November) where we will present the Wikimedian of the Year awards
and hear inspiring stories from our community.
We are also starting to think about Wikipedia’s 25th Anniversary in January
2026, and how Wikimedia UK can help to celebrate this milestone. If you
have ideas about this or would like to be involved, please let me know.
All best wishes
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid
Chief Executive
07803 505 169
*My pronouns are she/her and my name is pronounced like this
<https://namedrop.io/lucycromptonreid>*
Hi there folks,
Just a reminder that the next Scots Wiki Writing Drive takes place next
week - join the dashboard and edit at any time during the week, or join us
for zoom sessions on Tuesday / Thursday, 6-8pm, Scottish time. More info &
sign up details for the zoom sessions are on the on-wiki event page here:
https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Mey-Juin_2025_Writin_Drive
All the best,
Sara
--
Dr Sara Thomas
Programme Manager, Wikimedia UK
07803 505 172
*My pronouns are she/her, and my name is pronounced like this.
<https://namedrop.io/sarathomas> *
https://wikimedia.org.uk/home/scotland/
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Wikimedia_in_Scotland>
*I work part time, my usual days are Monday - Thursday.*
<https://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/>
*Wikimedia UK* <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> is the national chapter for the
global Wikimedia open knowledge movement.
Follow us on Twitter <https://twitter.com/wikimediauk>, Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/WikimediaUK>, LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/496119>, and Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/wikimediauk/>.
Wikimedia UK is a Registered Charity No.1144513 (England & Wales) SC048644
(Scotland). Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Scotland, Registered No. 6741827.
Registered Office c/o British Library, Room 46018, 96 Euston Road, London,
NW1 2DB
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate
Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
Hello everyone,
Just a little reminder that the next round of Train the Trainer is taking
place from July to August this year and we are accepting expressions of
interest from the community till 19th May. There are more details about the
training and the expression of interest form below.
If you have any questions about the training, feel free to email me off
list.
Best wishes,
Rupal
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would you like to learn how you can share your passion for Wikipedia
editing by running Wikipedia editing events to train new editors and
communities? If so, our next Train the Trainer (TtT) course is taking
place July
to August 2025 and will equip you with the skills and resources needed to
deliver successful Wiki editing events to support the UK wiki community. We
would love to hear from you if you’re interested in taking part.
The closing deadline for expressions of interest is 19th May and we
will be interviewing
candidates the week beginning 26th May.
We welcome expressions of interest from everyone. However, we are actively
seeking and would particularly welcome applicants from Black, South Asian
and minority groups; women; and members of the LGBT+ community. We are also
keen to hear from trainers from Wales and Central England.
You can find out more about the Train the Trainer course here
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/2025/04/train-the-trainer-2025-eoi-open/>, which
includes the expression of interest form
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwPdNnS8Vu5aijFqSd5s6P9WJr0JPwJDC…>
.
Please feel free to email me off list if you have any questions or want to
chat through the Volunteer Trainer role
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Training_the_Trainers/Volunteer_role:_Wikimed…>
.
Best wishes,
--
Rupal Karia (she/her)
Outreach and Community Coordinator
*My pronouns are she/her and my name is pronounced like this
<https://namedrop.io/rupalkaria>*
Working hours - Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9-5pm
[image: https://wikimedia.org.uk/donate/] <https://wikimedia.org.uk/donate/>
Wikimedia UK <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> is the national chapter for the
global Wikimedia open knowledge movement.
Follow us on Twitter <https://twitter.com/wikimediauk>, Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/WikimediaUK>, LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/496119>, and Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/wikimediauk/>.
Wikimedia UK is a registered charity in England and Wales No.1144513
and Scotland
No. SC048644. Company Limited by Guarantee, Registration No. 6741827.
Registered Office C/O Wikimedia UK, Level 4, Room 46018, 96 Euston Road,
London, NW1 2DB
Dear all
I wanted to let you know about some staff changes here at Wikimedia UK -
particularly following the message from Stuart Prior last week, who many of
you will know as a longstanding member of the team.
Following the launch of Wikimedia UK’s new strategy for 2025 - 2030
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Wikimedia_UK_Strategy_2025-2030> last
autumn, the Senior Management Team was tasked with reviewing the extent to
which the existing staff team could successfully deliver our ambitious
plans, and identify any changes needed. As a result of this review, we
proposed a number of changes to the staff structure, including the creation
of several new roles. Unfortunately this also meant making several roles
redundant, including Stuart's position within the Programmes team.
A key driver for the restructure was the desire to create a dedicated role
for education in order to deliver the step change in this work articulated
in our strategy. We have also created a new, part time position of Topics
for Impact Coordinator, and increased our Outreach and Community
Coordinator (Rupal Karia) from two to three days a week.
*The new role of Education Lead has just been advertised and is on wiki
here: https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Education_Lead
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Education_Lead>*
In addition to these changes we have deleted the post of Communications
Coordinator, held by Katie Crampton until April this year, as part of a
rethink about our approach to external relations. We do not have immediate
plans to create a new staff role within the Development and Communications
team, and instead will be exploring options that allow us to adapt to the
fast-changing communications landscape.
I'd like to thank all the staff affected by the restructure for their
understanding, professionalism and continued support for Wikimedia UK and
the wider Wikimedia movement.
If you have any follow up questions please feel free to contact me.
With best wishes
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid
Chief Executive
07803 505 169
*My pronouns are she/her and my name is pronounced like this
<https://namedrop.io/lucycromptonreid>*
Afternoon folks,
Do you have an idea for a Wiki-learning session? Have you found something
that you’d like to share with other Wikimedians, or an idea that you’d like
to try out? And would you like some help from Wikimedia UK in sharing it?
In response to feedback from the community around having opportunities to
improve Wiki-skills, and connecting with other community members, and as
part of the overall training package for 2025, we’re excited to introduce a
new strand of event programming, called Community Sandbox Sessions.
We’re looking to programme up to 6 virtual events over the next year, which
would be open to all members of the UK community, and supported by
Wikimedia UK. We’re asking community members to propose sessions that
you’d like to lead.
The type or format of any event is open; but we’d like to encourage
proposals which go beyond the traditional Wikipedia editathon - for
example:
-
Here’s a cool Wikidata tool I’ve found, let’s try it out
-
Wikisource transcribe-a-thon
-
A talk on how to run backstage pass events
-
Here’s how I got this article to Featured Article status
-
Let’s add images from this collection to Wikipedia
-
A mobile meeting where we take pictures of our local area for Wikimedia
Commons
-
Minoritised language work - eg: adding Wikidata labels
-
Building a worklist & finding reliable sources for future events
Events can take place throughout the year, and can also be on an evening or
weekend. Suggested duration is an hour, but longer (or shorter!) events
could be considered. We’re suggesting that these events are online in the
first instance, to reach the widest possible audience, and all events
should of course be run in line with the Wikimedia UK Safe Space policy.
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Safe_Space_Policy>
Support WMUK can offer:
-
Advice on refining your format
-
Setting up of Event Registration
-
Event promotion through UK listings & mailing lists
-
Hosting on the WMUK Zoom account / Google Meet
-
Friendly space support from a WMUK staff member (or volunteer) during
the event
This is very much an experiment, and we hope that the format will allow
community members to share knowledge and skills, and get to know other UK
Wikimedians, as well as test out new ideas! If you’d be interested in
running a session, please submit a proposal here.
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGmjZstJXQSMe9V8FyurYHEMbSthS2BrO…>
The initial deadline for submitting proposals is Tuesday 20th May.
If you have any questions, give me a shout (off-list if you prefer, to save
folks' inboxes).
All the best,
Sara
--
Dr Sara Thomas
Programme Manager, Wikimedia UK
07803 505 172
*My pronouns are she/her, and my name is pronounced like this.
<https://namedrop.io/sarathomas> *
https://wikimedia.org.uk/home/scotland/
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Wikimedia_in_Scotland>
*I work part time, my usual days are Monday - Thursday.*
<https://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/>
*Wikimedia UK* <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> is the national chapter for the
global Wikimedia open knowledge movement.
Follow us on Twitter <https://twitter.com/wikimediauk>, Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/WikimediaUK>, LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/496119>, and Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/wikimediauk/>.
Wikimedia UK is a Registered Charity No.1144513 (England & Wales) SC048644
(Scotland). Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Scotland, Registered No. 6741827.
Registered Office c/o British Library, Room 46018, 96 Euston Road, London,
NW1 2DB
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate
Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control
over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
Morning everyone!
We will be holding a meetup in Brighton on 14 June. It would be great to
see some of you there! Sign up on Meta:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Brighton/5
If you know anyone within reach of Brighton who might be interested, please
pass this on to them as well. :)
Thanks,
Harry
Dear all,
I will be leaving Wikimedia UK this week, taking redundancy.
I'd like to thank everyone I have worked with, staff and volunteer-alike,
and especially those in my immediate team. I wish Wikimedia UK ongoing
success.
I have learnt a lot over the years, helping run some large conferences,
becoming a contributor myself across the projects, a trainer for many
others, and meeting the often impressive people that are behind these great
works. And with the friends I've made through Wikimedia, I've received far
more than I've given.
It's hard to know what I'll miss most right now, because Wikimedia has been
such a key part of my life for the past decade it will be like a fish taken
out of water.
I will remain a part of the projects in a volunteer capacity, mostly
Wikidata I imagine, but also as a trainer.
If you want to stay in touch, you can get me at prior_stuart(a)me.com,
User:Battleofalma, LinkedIn, or read my awful jokes on bsky
<http://@stuartp.bsky.social>.
Best
Stuart
--
*Stuart Prior*
*Project Coordinator*
*Wikimedia UK*
+44 203 372 0769
+44 7879 015 385
Wikimedia UK is the national chapter for the global Wikimedia open
knowledge movement. We rely on donations from individuals to support our
work to make knowledge open for all. Have you considered supporting
Wikimedia? https://donate.wikimedia.org.uk
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and
Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered
Office c/o British Library, Euston Road, London
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The
Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate
Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent
non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility
for its contents.*
Dear all
Many of you will have heard of the South by SouthWest (SXSW) Festival,
which takes place annually in Austin, Texas and celebrates the convergence
of tech, education, and culture. SXSW is expanding to Europe and this year
will take place in* London from 2 to 7th June*.
I've managed to secure a few *free Platinum Passes to SXSW London
<https://www.sxswlondon.com/>*, worth £1300, and can offer one (or possibly
two) to the Wikimedia UK community. There are a huge range of speakers,
including Idris Elba, Bjorn from Abba and our very own Katherine Maher (CEO
of NPR but formerly of the Wikimedia Foundation). I believe Jimmy may be
speaking as well, but he's not yet listed.
*Please email me if you are interested in a pass*, and can cover your own
expenses. It would be great if you could say a few lines about why you'd
like to attend, but if there are lots of you I will probably just draw
names from a hat. *Do only apply for a pass if you will be able to make
full use of it and attend for the whole week*.
Please note that these *aren't press passes *and there are restrictions on
photography, described here
<https://www.sxswlondon.com/accreditation-policy>. We are in separate
discussions with WikiPortraits <https://www.wikiportraits.org/>, who are
hoping to send a local delegation to the festival, with media accreditation.
If you have any questions, do email me.
Best wishes
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid
Chief Executive
07803 505 169
*My pronouns are she/her and my name is pronounced like this
<https://namedrop.io/lucycromptonreid>*
Hello everyone,
We have just released May's edition for anyone who would like ideas on
quick and simple ways to contribute to Wikimedia projects.
May's edition is focused on tasks that can be easily done that help keep
Wikipedia factually correct. Have a look and have a go!
https://wikimedia.org.uk/2025/02/time-contribute-open-knowledge-quick-wiki
-world/
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/2025/02/time-contribute-open-knowledge-quick-wiki-…>
To help you in your research to make Wikipedia factually correct, did you
know that The Wikipedia Library <https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/> is
available to anyone who has been editing for 6+ months, with more than 500
edits, and 10 edits in the last 30 days, with no active blocks? You can log
in via your Wikipedia account to access online journals, which may help
with your research.
*Please remember to use the #wmuk in your edit summary *(when possible) so
we can keep track of all the incredible ways you are participating in
Wikimedia projects.
If you would like to share with us how you are getting on with Mini Wiki we'd
love to hear from you.
Best wishes,
Rupal Karia (she/her)
Outreach and Community Coordinator
*My pronouns are she/her and my name is pronounced like this
<https://namedrop.io/rupalkaria>*
Working hours - Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 9-5pm
[image: https://wikimedia.org.uk/donate/] <https://wikimedia.org.uk/donate/>
Wikimedia UK <https://wikimedia.org.uk/> is the national chapter for the
global Wikimedia open knowledge movement.
Follow us on Twitter <https://twitter.com/wikimediauk>, Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/WikimediaUK>, LinkedIn
<https://www.linkedin.com/company/496119>, and Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/wikimediauk/>.
Wikimedia UK is a registered charity in England and Wales No.1144513
and Scotland
No. SC048644. Company Limited by Guarantee, Registration No. 6741827.
Registered Office C/O Wikimedia UK, Level 4, Room 46018, 96 Euston Road,
London, NW1 2DB