Engine room

Welcome to the engine roomThis is a place to ask about and discuss the inner workings of the charity. To discuss our external projects and activities, see how you can get involved or suggest ideas that could help our charitable mission, head over to the water cooler.

2013 2014 2015

Volunteering: a call to action

See Volunteer strategy consultation 2015

Wikimedia UK needs your help. We want to transform the way we work so that we can bring volunteering right into the heart of the charity.

We plan to:

• Establish a new volunteer engagement panel or steering group, focusing specifically on volunteering and volunteer engagement
• Embed members into our day-to-day decision making via a new evaluation panel
• Encourage the setting up of volunteer special-interest working groups to replace the existing non-board committees
• Set up cultural/GLAM and educational outreach expert advisory boards to advise the WMUK main board on high-level strategy
• Change our Articles of Association to allow volunteers to be appointed full members of board committees
• Provide more effective support for volunteers via the new project coordinator staff roles
• Move toward project-based working practices to improve efficiency and to enable better self-evaluation of our work

These draft plans follow on from the excellent feedback we received from our last Volunteer Strategy Gathering. They deliberately don't attempt to answer all possible questions about implementation, as we think it best that both further questions and the answers to those questions should come out of collaborative discussions. The plans are not set in stone, and with the community's help they can be improved, strengthened and fleshed out.

We would like your feedback, either online or in person at our next Volunteer Strategy Gathering on Saturday 25th July 2015, in London. For more information, see the links on the consultation page.

Feedback, comments and discussion are more than welcome on the discussion page, or you can email chairwikimedia.org.uk if you have feedback you would prefer not to make public.

Michael Maggs, Chair --MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:21, 5 June 2015 (BST)

Notice of 2015 AGM

Hi all. Just to let you know that formal notice of the 2015 Annual General Meeting been emailed to members today. If you are a member and have not received your notice, please check that it has not ended up in your spam folder. If you think you should have received a notice but did not, please contract the office now. If you would like to vote at the AGM and you are not currently a member (perhaps because your membership has lapsed) you can apply here (it's only £5!) The board will be approving membership applications at its board meeting this Saturday, 4 July, so please apply before then if you can. It should be possible for applications received after that date but before the AGM on 25th July to be considered by the board, but probably not before the day itself. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:59, 1 July 2015 (BST)

Administration and Programme Assistant

We have recently undergone a process of refocusing of our activities, we are now entering an exciting new phase where we want to build on large scale partnerships with external organisations. Strong reporting and administration will be a key element of that. We are looking for a permanent Administration and Programme Assistant to join our staff team. The role will involve providing core administrative and financial support for Wikimedia UK activities, with focus on its programmes and reporting. You will also be the first port of contact for the organisation and supporting the whole of the team in the administrative work of the charity, making it a key role for Wikimedia UK.

Further details can be found here and the deadline for applications is 5pm BST on 20 July. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 14:29, 3 July 2015 (BST)

Welcoming Lucy Crompton-Reid as CEO

From our chair, Michael Maggs:

I am very pleased to be able to announce today that we have been fortunate enough to secure as our new CEO Lucy Crompton-Reid, currently Director of the national live literature charity Apples and Snakes. Lucy brings extensive experience in volunteer engagement, organisational development, working with strategic partners, media, education, and securing external fundraising from trusts and foundations.

Over the course of her career Lucy has worked in both the charitable and public sectors, including most recently Head of Outreach at the House of Lords where she was strategic and operational lead for education and outreach activities. Before that, she worked at Arts Council England, initially developing strategic partnerships before setting up a new area office with local government and schools partnerships. As Refugee Week National Co-ordinator for the British Refugee Council, Lucy chaired the UK steering group of NGOs and charities, led on media activities, and facilitated hundreds of volunteer cultural events each year. Lucy is passionate about education and learning and is deeply committed to ensuring open access to knowledge and information.

Lucy will be joining us in early October. In the meantime, our interim CEO, D'Arcy Myers, will remain in post and will be working with Lucy to ensure a smooth handover. Please join me in offering Lucy a very warm welcome.

Michael Maggs

From our CEO-elect, Lucy Crompton-Reid:

I’m delighted to be joining Wikimedia UK this October as the charity’s new Chief Executive, and look forward to working with the staff team, board and volunteer community – as well as national and international partners – to develop the work of the organisation. This is a significant time for Wikimedia and for the open knowledge sector more broadly, with the potential to create unparalleled access to educational content, coupled with threats to limit public access to information and knowledge. With nearly 18 years' experience in the arts, charitable and public sectors, I'm passionate about participation, and excited about the opportunity to facilitate greater public engagement with online content and information through Wikipedia and its sister projects, and other Wikimedia UK initiatives.

Lucy Crompton-Reid

--MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:30, 13 July 2015 (BST)

May I give my congratulations to Lucy and I wish her well in her new role. CT Cooper · talk 21:40, 16 July 2015 (BST)

Membership management improvements

I just thought it might be useful to have a bit of a discussion before the AGM about what people think might be a better way to manage membership. What I would like is access to a secure page where I can review my membership and update my personal details, see a record of my volunteering, check when my next membership renewal is due etc. Something which could be considered is a printable volunteering record, perhaps in summary form, which could help people when applying for jobs, or proving volunteering activity if unemployed. I am sure this can be done in a way which means that once set up it would not require much staff time to keep running effectively. Leutha (talk) 08:46, 14 July 2015 (BST)

Volunteer strategy gathering registration

The registration asks you whether you would like to become a member of WMUK for £5. The only options for the answer to this are "yes" and "no" - there is no provision for "I am already a member". I answered "no" as I don't need to renew my membership at the moment, but it does meant that the metrics you get from the answers to this question are going to be unreliable. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 17:49, 14 July 2015 (BST)

Reminder of deadline for proxy votes at the AGM: This Wednesday at 3pm

We hope to welcome as many as possible at Saturday's AGM, where members will be able to vote in person. Members who are not able to attend can lodge proxy votes, both for the resolutions and for the candidates who are standing for the board. Voting papers and proxy forms were sent out by post last Wednesday, 15 July, and all members should have received them by now. This is just to remind anyone who intends to vote by proxy that as stated on the form the deadline for receipt of proxy votes (which can be by email to tellerswikimedia.org.uk) is 3pm this Thursday, 23rd July - 48 hours before the start of the meeting. Instructions for voting by email can be found on the proxy form itself. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 20:11, 20 July 2015 (BST)

QRpedia

I left a message at the water cooler but it doesnt appear to have been seen. Could someone look? 176.227.129.236 15:10, 20 August 2015 (BST)