On Thursday we finally heard back from the Charity Commission that they have agreed to register us as a charity, number Registered Charity, No.1144513.
Thank you all very much indeed for your support, patience and forbearance over the last few months (and years!) while we have been sorting this out, and to everyone who turned up to amend our Objects a few weeks ago.
This is obviously a hugely significant step for us as an organisation. It is also a recognition of the quality of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement as a whole - the Charity Commission in their decision took pains to distinguish Wikipedia from a random collection of information on the Internet, which is what they were worried we were. And we're also told this it's a significant development in charity law. (Well, if it was really simple, we would have done it ages ago...)
We'd like thank to our lawyers (Stone King) and to John Byrne and Steve Virgin who have carefully navigated our path along this journey. You can find out more on our blog -http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/11/charity/
We already have Gift Aid forms working (why not fill one in here? http://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/thanks-gift-aid ) and we'll be doing our best to make sure we can get Gift Aid on as many donations as possible in this Autumn's fundraiser, which starts next week.
We've been holding off the announcement to try to maximise our press coverage, but please now join the Board in cracking open a metaphorical bottle of champagne... :-D
Regards,
Chris (on behalf of the Wikimedia UK Board)
UK Charity Status for the world's favourite encyclopaedia - and a milestone for Charity Law http://bit.ly/rZFihf #WMUK
And if anyone fancies Tweeting about our success - here is what I intend to tweet - feel free to borrow & adapt to what you feel best - but try and keep the #WMUK at the end so we can track the Twitter coverage
Steve
From: wikimediauk-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikimediauk-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Chris Keating Sent: 06 November 2011 21:12 To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Wikimediauk-l] We've done it!!
On Thursday we finally heard back from the Charity Commission that they have agreed to register us as a charity, number Registered Charity, No.1144513.
Thank you all very much indeed for your support, patience and forbearance over the last few months (and years!) while we have been sorting this out, and to everyone who turned up to amend our Objects a few weeks ago.
This is obviously a hugely significant step for us as an organisation. It is also a recognition of the quality of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement as a whole - the Charity Commission in their decision took pains to distinguish Wikipedia from a random collection of information on the Internet, which is what they were worried we were. And we're also told this it's a significant development in charity law. (Well, if it was really simple, we would have done it ages ago...)
We'd like thank to our lawyers (Stone King) and to John Byrne and Steve Virgin who have carefully navigated our path along this journey. You can find out more on our blog - http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/11/charity/ http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/11/charity/
We already have Gift Aid forms working (why not fill one in here? http://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/thanks-gift-aid http://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/thanks-gift-aid ) and we'll be doing our best to make sure we can get Gift Aid on as many donations as possible in this Autumn's fundraiser, which starts next week.
We've been holding off the announcement to try to maximise our press coverage, but please now join the Board in cracking open a metaphorical bottle of champagne... :-D
Regards,
Chris
(on behalf of the Wikimedia UK Board)
On 6 November 2011 21:12, Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
On Thursday we finally heard back from the Charity Commission that they have agreed to register us as a charity, number Registered Charity, No.1144513.
Not a memorable number, but otherwise unqualified congratulations to those
involved.
Charles
Yes, congrats to everyone who toiled to get this done :-)
Tom Morton
On 6 Nov 2011, at 21:24, Charles Matthews charles.r.matthews@ntlworld.com wrote:
On 6 November 2011 21:12, Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
On Thursday we finally heard back from the Charity Commission that they have agreed to register us as a charity, number Registered Charity, No.1144513.
Not a memorable number, but otherwise unqualified congratulations to those
involved.
Charles
_______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Nice one!
Gordo
On 6 November 2011 21:12, Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
We'd like thank to our lawyers (Stone King) and to John Byrne and Steve Virgin who have carefully navigated our path along this journey. You can find out more on our blog -http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/11/charity/
Uh ... whoever wrote that header has a strange understanding of the word "embargo." YOU'VE JUST PUBLISHED IT TO THE WORLD.
- d.
Uh ... whoever wrote that header has a strange understanding of the word "embargo." YOU'VE JUST PUBLISHED IT TO THE WORLD.
Ah, damn, that probably means we've lost the front page exclusive in The
Sun tomorrow. Hopefully we might still get Keely, 24, from Beckenham talking about how cool QRpedia is on page 3.
;-)
Chris
That would almost make it worth buying The Sun!
Harry
________________________________ From: Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Sunday, 6 November 2011, 21:37 Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] We've done it!!
Uh ... whoever wrote that header has a strange understanding of the word "embargo." YOU'VE JUST PUBLISHED IT TO THE WORLD.
Ah, damn, that probably means we've lost the front page exclusive in The Sun tomorrow. Hopefully we might still get Keely, 24, from Beckenham talking about how cool QRpedia is on page 3.
;-)
Chris
_______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Congratulations! I'm proud to be a member of WMUK as it becomes a charity today. Not sure I get the press embargo bit, but I'll check the papers tomorrow :) Deryck
On 6 November 2011 21:47, HJ Mitchell hjmitchell@ymail.com wrote:
That would almost make it worth buying The Sun!
Harry
*From:* Chris Keating chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com *To:* wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org *Sent:* Sunday, 6 November 2011, 21:37 *Subject:* Re: [Wikimediauk-l] We've done it!!
Uh ... whoever wrote that header has a strange understanding of the word "embargo." YOU'VE JUST PUBLISHED IT TO THE WORLD.
Ah, damn, that probably means we've lost the front page exclusive in The Sun tomorrow. Hopefully we might still get Keely, 24, from Beckenham talking about how cool QRpedia is on page 3.
;-)
Chris
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
*Thumb up* & *happy dance*
Congratulations! Having been a member of the first board, I know this has been a long-term aspiration and much work has gone into achieving charity status. It will be of great benefit to the chapter, and to Wikimedia projects, their users and contributors.
Well done!
Mickey Conn
Congratulations to all concerned!
Stephen Tilley Stephen@Tilley.net
Nov 6, 2011 10:12:10 PM, wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org wrote:
===========================================
On Thursday we finally heard back from the Charity Commission that they have agreed to register us as a charity, number Registered Charity, No.1144513. Thank you all very much indeed for your support, patience and forbearance over the last few months (and years!) while we have been sorting this out, and to everyone who turned up to amend our Objects a few weeks ago. This is obviously a hugely significant step for us as an organisation. It is also a recognition of the quality of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement as a whole - the Charity Commission in their decision took pains to distinguish Wikipedia from a random collection of information on the Internet, which is what they were worried we were. And we're also told this it's a significant development in charity law. (Well, if it was really simple, we would have done it ages ago...) We'd like thank to our lawyers (Stone King) and to John Byrne and Steve Virgin who have carefully navigated our path along this journey. You can find out more on our blog -http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/11/charity/ We already have Gift Aid forms working (why not fill one in here? http://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/thanks-gift-aid%C2%A0) and we'll be doing our best to make sure we can get Gift Aid on as many donations as possible in this Autumn's fundraiser, which starts next week. We've been holding off the announcement to try to maximise our press coverage, but please now join the Board in cracking open a metaphorical bottle of champagne... :-D Regards, Chris(on behalf of the Wikimedia UK Board)
_______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
This is fantastic news: congratulations everyone! On 6 Nov 2011 21:12, "Chris Keating" chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
On Thursday we finally heard back from the Charity Commission that they have agreed to register us as a charity, number Registered Charity, No.1144513.
Thank you all very much indeed for your support, patience and forbearance over the last few months (and years!) while we have been sorting this out, and to everyone who turned up to amend our Objects a few weeks ago.
This is obviously a hugely significant step for us as an organisation. It is also a recognition of the quality of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement as a whole - the Charity Commission in their decision took pains to distinguish Wikipedia from a random collection of information on the Internet, which is what they were worried we were. And we're also told this it's a significant development in charity law. (Well, if it was really simple, we would have done it ages ago...)
We'd like thank to our lawyers (Stone King) and to John Byrne and Steve Virgin who have carefully navigated our path along this journey. You can find out more on our blog -http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/11/charity/
We already have Gift Aid forms working (why not fill one in here? http://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/thanks-gift-aid ) and we'll be doing our best to make sure we can get Gift Aid on as many donations as possible in this Autumn's fundraiser, which starts next week.
We've been holding off the announcement to try to maximise our press coverage, but please now join the Board in cracking open a metaphorical bottle of champagne... :-D
Regards,
Chris (on behalf of the Wikimedia UK Board)
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
This was the challenge that you set the board when you elected us as a number one priority. The fact that we've achieved this in time for a fundraiser (that at one time we thought had been cancelled) is amazing. If we were in the banking business then each of them would be given a ridiculous bonus and John Byrne would in the House of Lords. You will have to find your own currency, but we would not have achieved this without your support. As I said at the EGM, I thought it was the one thing we could rely on - and we did.
Thank you. Roger
... sorry I've been quiet on this one but I had to witness an urgent photo shoot for the Sun, involving Keely, 24 who is trying to get "World Peace" its own QRpedia code. He really is a very nice person.
On 7 November 2011 11:39, James Farrar james.farrar@gmail.com wrote:
This is fantastic news: congratulations everyone! On 6 Nov 2011 21:12, "Chris Keating" chriskeatingwiki@gmail.com wrote:
On Thursday we finally heard back from the Charity Commission that they have agreed to register us as a charity, number Registered Charity, No.1144513.
Thank you all very much indeed for your support, patience and forbearance over the last few months (and years!) while we have been sorting this out, and to everyone who turned up to amend our Objects a few weeks ago.
This is obviously a hugely significant step for us as an organisation. It is also a recognition of the quality of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement as a whole - the Charity Commission in their decision took pains to distinguish Wikipedia from a random collection of information on the Internet, which is what they were worried we were. And we're also told this it's a significant development in charity law. (Well, if it was really simple, we would have done it ages ago...)
We'd like thank to our lawyers (Stone King) and to John Byrne and Steve Virgin who have carefully navigated our path along this journey. You can find out more on our blog -http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/11/charity/
We already have Gift Aid forms working (why not fill one in here? http://donate.wikimedia.org.uk/thanks-gift-aid ) and we'll be doing our best to make sure we can get Gift Aid on as many donations as possible in this Autumn's fundraiser, which starts next week.
We've been holding off the announcement to try to maximise our press coverage, but please now join the Board in cracking open a metaphorical bottle of champagne... :-D
Regards,
Chris (on behalf of the Wikimedia UK Board)
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
And I have just had a letter back from Nick Hurd (in response to my email of weeks ago to my local MP) about "Charitable Incorporated Organisations"...
:-)
Gordo
On 7 November 2011 19:24, Gordon Joly gordon.joly@pobox.com wrote:
And I have just had a letter back from Nick Hurd (in response to my email of weeks ago to my local MP) about "Charitable Incorporated Organisations"...
:-)
Did it say anything useful? Becoming a CIO is worth considering if they're actually going to get around to finalising the details.
On 07/11/2011 19:28, Thomas Dalton wrote:
On 7 November 2011 19:24, Gordon Jolygordon.joly@pobox.com wrote:
And I have just had a letter back from Nick Hurd (in response to my email of weeks ago to my local MP) about "Charitable Incorporated Organisations"...
:-)
Did it say anything useful? Becoming a CIO is worth considering if they're actually going to get around to finalising the details.
__
The delays in implementation of CIO status being available (via Secondary Legislation) are due to Insolvency and Dissolution Regulations being complex. Should be going back to Parliament early next year, with the CIO option being available very soon after than.
Many charities will opt to transform into a CIO, I believe, such as Wiki UK Ltd?
Gordo
Could you guys remove my email from the list as i am currently busy with other activities. cheers
On 8 November 2011 10:03, Bod Notbod bodnotbod@gmail.com wrote:
Well done to everyone who worked for this.
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
You can remove yourself - just follow the link in the footer to the list's webpage.
On 8 November 2011 19:28, Fraser fngosa@gmail.com wrote:
Could you guys remove my email from the list as i am currently busy with other activities. cheers
On 8 November 2011 10:03, Bod Notbod bodnotbod@gmail.com wrote:
Well done to everyone who worked for this.
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On 8 November 2011 19:28, Fraser fngosa@gmail.com wrote:
Could you guys remove my email from the list as i am currently busy with other activities.
Removed.
- d.
wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org