Membership

Template:WMUK This is a draft version of the informal membership application "Rules" prior to the first General Meeting. It is still a work in progress; please leave comments on the talk page, or on the mailing list. The current Membership Secretary is User:Mike Peel.

Membership levels

Membership initially consists solely of what WMUK1 called "Guarantor Membership", but here is simply called "Membership". Other membership levels, e.g. Friends (non-voting) and Corporate Membership, are left to be decided on by the next Board. Membership is open to all; there is no restriction in terms of location, age or activity on the Wikimedia Foundation projects.

Membership is not transferable. There will be an annual fee, the amount of which is not yet decided; it may be free until the first board meeting at which point a membership fee will be due, or it may require payment up front.

Application form

Details required on the Application Form for guarantor membership will be:

• Full name (required)
• Wikimedia foundation username (optional; specifying which project)
• Full address, including postcode (required)
• Country of residence (required)
• Email address (optional?)
• Checkbox to state whether the applicant is over 18
• Signature and date (required)
• If under 18, then signature of parent or guardian (required if under 18)

Possible reasons for rejection of application

The Board may reject a membership application if it is considered by the Board to be in the best interests of the charity. This may include:

• Applicant has not provided, or has obviously fabricated, any of the required details on the application form
• Applicant does not agree to support the Object of the charity (indicated by signing the application form)
• Applicant does not agree to not bring the charity into disrepute (indicated by signing the application form)
• Applicant is under the minimum age of 16, or is not a resident of the UK
• Applicant has not provided payment of the appropriate membership fee

Invalid reasons for outright rejection of a membership application include behaviour, activity or inactivity on the Wikipedia Foundation websites (excluding that used by WMUK2, i.e. (currently) the Meta pages, the mailing list and the IRC channels).

All rejected membership applications should be raised and discussed at the next available General Meeting (subject to the data protection act).

Data retention

Names, addresses and dates of start (and if appropriate, end) of membership, the member's class ("Guarantor") and the member's number will be recorded in the Register of members, which will exist in digital form on the computers of the Membership Secretary and the Secretary (the Secretary's copy will be the "master" copy, otherwise notification must be given to the registrar: section 114 of the Companies Act 2006). The legal requirement is that member's names will stay on this register for at least 10 years from the date at which they cease to be a member.

The register of members may be inspected, and a copy taken of, by any member without charge, and anyone can make a request to inspect and/or take a copy of it subject to a fee. The latter can be refused only by application to the court. (See Chapter 2 of the Companies Act 2006, section 113 onwards)

Successful membership applications will probably also be retained by the Membership Secretary for at least 10 years from the date at which the person ceases to be a member (legal requirement?). Unsuccessful applications will be retained until after the General Meeting at which they are discussed.