The November newsletter has been published at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK_v2.0/Newsletter/November2008 and is copied
below for your convenience:
Summary:
Wikimedians in the United Kingdom are working to set up a chapter of the Wikimedia
Foundation, which will aid and encourage people to collect, develop and effectively
disseminate knowledge. A board of five members has been elected, and a company has now
been set up. Membership applications are now invited, and will be processed as soon as we
have a bank account. The organisation needs the support and involvement of people like
you.
Creating a chapter
Wikimedians in the United Kingdom have been working since 2006 to create a chapter of the
Wikimedia Foundation. A company - Wiki Educational Resources Ltd - was incorporated on 14
February 2006. This company had several problems with recognition from the Foundation and
opening bank accounts which meant the decision was made in August 2008 to wind the company
up. The community decided to start the process to create a new company, firstly electing
an initial Board.
Elections
From 20 - 27 September, the community voted for an initial board of five members to
incorporate the new organisation, set up a bank account, request charitable status and
arrange the first Annual General Meeting (AGM). Nine people put their names forward to
stand and eight were accepted as candidates - the ninth being rejected as they were under
18. These five candidates received the support of more than the required 50% of voters:
* Kwan Ting Chan (88.5%; Chair);
* Michael Conn (57.7%; Communication Officer) ;
* Tom Holden (92.3%; Treasurer);
* Mike Peel (53.2%; Membership Secretary);
* Andrew Turvey (73.1%; Secretary).
Of the 37 people who registered in time to vote, 26 (70%) cast their ballots. The board
members took up the positions listed alongside their names. New board elections will be
held at the first AGM.
Status of Company Formation
The board has agreed a timeline of objectives. Good progress is being made. Following
extensive discussions, a company named '''Wiki UK Ltd''' has been
set up and was incorporated on 5 November. The company's Memorandum of Association
and Articles of Association have been agreed, and these include the organisation's
objectives:
The charity's Object is to aid and encourage people to collect, develop and
effectively disseminate knowledge and other educational, cultural and historic content in
the public domain or under a license that allows everyone to freely use, distribute and
modify said content, by means including (but not limited to):
1 promoting freely accessible online information repositories whose content is freely and
collaboratively editable;
2 acting as a voice and representative for the community of UK residents and citizens who
use and edit such repositories;
3 preserving world heritage, and particularly that of the UK, through such repositories;
4 supporting the charitable work of the Wikimedia Foundation;
5 enabling, assisting, promoting and promulgating wider participation in the creation,
dissemination and expansion of information and educational resources covering the
world's knowledge and languages to all persons, everywhere;
6 furthering the development of electronic, printed, and other resources required to
support such participation;
7 producing, publishing and developing, or cause to be produced, published and developed,
information resources, whether in printed, electronic, or other forms;
8 making use of or encouraging the use of information resources for the advancement of
education; and
9 encouraging the adoption of practices and policies to widen education, participation and
dissemination of information worldwide;
The chapters committee has passed a resolution to support us becoming a chapter of
Wikimedia. This does not yet give us chapter status, as the board of the Wikimedia
Foundation must decide on this, and their next meeting is from 9th-11th January.
Membership
We have decided to have one membership level to start with. Members will have the right
to elect the Board, submit motions and vote at AGMs, thereby playing a central role in
determining the activities of the organisation. The membership fee will be £12/year,
reduced to £6/year for concessions. These fees may be revised, and additional levels of
membership created, at an AGM or by future Boards.
We are now inviting applications for membership of Wiki UK Limited; you can get the
application form from
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Wiki_UK_Ltd_membership_application_for…. We will
process these as soon as we have a bank account. We are currently applying for a bank
account and hope that this will be up and running by late December.
More information on membership can be found at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_UK_v2.0/Membership.
Getting involved
In order to aid and encourage people to collect, develop and effectively disseminate
knowledge, the chapter needs the support and involvement of people like you. Now is a
great time to get involved. If you haven't already done so, you can subscribe to this
newsletter. You may also like to subscribe to the WikimediaUK mailing list, where
discussion on the chapter is taking place. You can additionally pose questions or make
suggestions on Meta Wiki, where you can also respond to the items raised for consultation
by the Board. Our Board Meetings held on irc are generally open to the public to listen
and contribute and the agenda, reports, minutes and IRC log are posted on the wiki
Wiki UK Limited is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in
England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. The Registered Office is at
23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham, NG9 1RL