Dear all
Many thanks to those of you who attended Wikimedia UK's AGM last Saturday.
For those who weren't there, I'm pleased to report that *Sammy Tarling* was
elected to the Board of Trustees. Sammy is a long standing Wikimedian,
having served as a functionary on the English Wikipedia and globally across
the Wikimedia projects as a Steward until late 2022. Sammy has worked as a
software engineer on the Community Tech team at the Wikimedia Foundation
since early last year, and has experience as a company director.
Sammy replaces *Kelly Foster *as an elected trustee. Our thanks to Kelly
were recorded at the AGM and I would like to reiterate them here. Kelly has
served a three year term as a trustee, bringing a wealth of knowledge and
experience of the global Wikimedia movement. Whilst she is stepping down
from the board, she has agreed to remain on the Community Development
Committee as an independent member. We are very grateful to continue to
benefit from Kelly’s insights and networks in this capacity.
All the ordinary board resolutions were passed, and the minutes from the
2022 meeting were approved.
This is just a reminder that if you want to be able to vote at future AGMs,
please sign up for membership here
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Membership>. At the recent meeting, members
voted to keep the membership fee at just £5 a year for individuals,
although we always welcome additional donations!
With best wishes
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Dear all
As some of you may be aware, Wikimedia UK and the Wikimedia Foundation have
been working together over the past months to advocate for changes to the
UK Online Safety Bill which is currently going through Parliament. Today,
we launched an open letter (with a consortium of signatories from the
civil society sector) and would appreciate the wider Wikimedia community's
support in amplifying this through your social media channels, if that
feels appropriate.
Here are some possible tweets that you may want to send - with the first
linking directly to the open letter and the bottom two linking to a blog
post, published yesterday (which now links to the open letter):
Click to tweet: <https://ctt.ac/KubhY> I signed the @Wikimedia Foundation
and @WikimediaUK's open letter to UK government leaders asking to exempt
@Wikipedia and other public interest projects from the Online Safety Bill.
If you care about free knowledge, join me. #ForFreeKnowledge
https://wikimedia.org.uk/2023/06/online-safety-bill-open-letter/
Click to tweet: <https://ctt.ac/3e1T0> The UK's Online Safety Bill is a
threat to @Wikipedia and other public interest projects. I join the
@Wikimedia Foundation and @WikimediaUK's call for changes to the Bill
before it becomes law. #ForFreeKnowledge
https://medium.com/freely-sharing-the-sum-of-all-knowledge/protect-the-futu…
<https://medium.com/freely-sharing-the-sum-of-all-knowledge/protect-the-futu…>
Click to tweet: <https://ctt.ac/B6g3l> I share the @Wikimedia Foundation
and @WikimediaUK's concerns about what the UK's Online Safety Bill means
for the future of @Wikipedia. Here's why. #ForFreeKnowledge
https://medium.com/freely-sharing-the-sum-of-all-knowledge/protect-the-futu…
With many thanks
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Somewhat off-topic, hope you do not mind, but it seems that MediaWiki farm
Miraheze.org has been failing to get its legal entity Miraheze ltd.
recognized as non-profit. Anyone informed of what went wrong?
Is it as hard toget and keep as US 503c status?
Best Z. Blace
Dear all
Just a reminder that it is *Wikimedia UK's AGM this Saturday 1st July*,
from 10am to 12noon. This is your chance to hear about the activities of
the charity directly from the board and executive, and ask questions about
our past work and future plans and priorities. There is a board election,
and the announcement of new Honorary Memberships.
Please register on eventbrite here
<https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wikimedia-uks-2023-agm-tickets-639329851797> to
receive the meeting zoom link.
Those of you who are members should have received a Voting Pack last week,
to whatever email you used when you applied for membership. Please can you
contact Katie.Crampton(a)wikimedia.org.uk (or just reply to this email) if
you haven't received a pack and think that you should have.
If you are unable to attend the AGM we would be grateful if you could *please
take a minute to complete your voting proxy form*, included in the email
sent with the voting pack. The deadline for submitting proxy votes is this
Thursday at 10am. Whilst it isn't a competitive election this year, with
one candidate standing for one place on the Board of Trustees, we do need
to be quorate in order to elect that candidate (software engineer and long
time Wikimedia contributor, Sammy Tarling) to the board.
If you have any questions about the AGM or voting, please don't hesitate to
ask.
Thanks and best wishes
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Dear all
I just wanted to remind you all that the deadline to stand in our upcoming
trustee election is tomorrow (Friday 16th June) at midnight. The process is
straightforward and detailed here Becoming a Trustee
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Board/Becoming_a_trustee#Expectations_of_trus…>.
This year there is one vacancy, and we are particularly keen for members of
the Wikimedia community to put themselves forward.
The elections will be held at our forthcoming AGM on *Saturday 1st July* from
10am to 12noon. Please book a place on Eventbrite here: 2023 AGM
<https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wikimedia-uks-2023-agm-tickets-639329851797>
Remember that in order to vote you need to be a current member of Wikimedia
UK
<https://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=4>.
Please join or rejoin by Monday 19th June to ensure you receive your voting
pack.
All best
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive
Hi all
As you may have seen on our social media, next week we are hosting an
online session on the report *Wikimedia and Democracy – The impact of
Wikimedia UK's information literacy work on citizen engagement
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_and_Democracy_-_Wikimedia…>*
.
You can sign up to attend Wednesday's session on eventbrite
<https://bit.ly/42eq0L1>, which will include an overview of the report's
findings and a curated Q&A. You can also read the blog
<https://bit.ly/42vOCQn>, which includes commentary from individuals across
the Wikimedia movement.
I'd like to commend the report's authors, Agnes Bruszik and Daria Cybulska,
on a fantastic piece of research, and thank WMUK Trustee Sangeet Bhullar
for joining Daria to host next week's session.
Hope to see you there, and let us know if you have any questions.
Best wishes
Katie
--
Katie Crampton (she/her)
Communications Coordinator
<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 in England, Wales No.1144513. and Scotland
No. SC048644. Company Limited by Guarantee, Registration No. 6741827.
Registered Office Ground Floor, Europoint, 5 - 11 Lavington Street, London
SE1 0NZ
<https://maps.google.com/?q=5+-+11+Lavington+Street,+London+SE1+0NZ&entry=gm…>
.
Dear all
I hope you had a lovely bank holiday weekend and are enjoying the lovely
weather (at least, it's lovely here in Scotland!)
I wanted to make sure that you have the date of Wikimedia UK’s next AGM in
your diaries, taking place online on Saturday 1st July from 10am to 12
noon. Please book your place via Eventbrite
<https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/639329851797>.
The AGM will include reports from me, the Chair and the Treasurer, and is
an important opportunity to ask questions about the charity’s work. The AGM
is also when our annual trustee elections take place. This year we have one
vacancy for an elected trustee, and are keen to hear from members of the
Wikimedia community in the UK who would be interested in joining the Board.
The process for standing for election is detailed here
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Board/Becoming_a_trustee> and the deadline
is Friday 16th June. Please feel free to reach out to me if you’re thinking
of standing, particularly if you have questions about the process or the
role of the Wikimedia UK board.
Remember that to stand for the election, or indeed to vote at the AGM, you
need to be a current member. All members should have received an email
about the AGM on Friday so if you didn’t receive one and think you should
have done, please email katie.crampton(a)wikimedia.org.uk. You can apply for
or renew your membership here <https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Membership>.
It only takes a few minutes and costs £5 a year.
Members can also propose resolutions for consideration at the AGM. A
resolution could be about a change to Wikimedia UK’s governing document
(our Articles of Association
<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Articles_of_Association>) or a change to our
policies. If you want to propose a resolution please email us at
info(a)wikimedia.org.uk by this Friday 2nd June. You can either propose the
suggested text of the resolution yourself, or we can work with you to draft
something.
If you have any general questions about the AGM, please contact Chuks
Ogbonna, copied in.
All best
Lucy
--
Lucy Crompton-Reid (she/her)
Chief Executive