2024 AGM/Minutes

Minutes of Wikimedia UK’s 2024 Annual General Meeting

Wikimedia UK's (WMUK) 2024 AGM took place on Saturday 21st September. It was held online over Zoom, with Eventbrite ticket-holders having received a meeting link before the event. The Zoom meeting opened at 09.30 am with formal proceedings starting at 10:03.

Present

Amongst the board the following were present

• Alex Ashby (AA)
• Caroline Ball (CB)
• Adrian Beidas (AB)
• Sangeet Bhullar (SB)
• Mark Cruickshank (MC)
• Julian Manieson (JM)
• Sarvesh Ramachandran (SR)
• Monisha Shah (MS) (Chair of Trustees)
• Rod Ward (RW)

Apologies were received from Vivian Wineman.

The most people present on Zoom at one time was 37; 57 people registered through Eventbrite. Minutes were taken by Richard Nevell (RN).

Welcome and introduction to the AGM by the Chair of the Board

MS welcomed members and outlined the agenda for the day. WMUK has 319 members; MS reminded attendees that quoracy is 5%, so the threshold is 16 votes. We have received 15 votes already by proxy. The meeting is held in accordance with WMUK’s safe space policy.

Approval of 2023 AGM minutes

MS proposed that the membership recognise the 2023 AGM minutes as an accurate record. Hands were raised to vote.

The community approved with a simple majority.

Board report from the Chair

MS thanked all members, board, staff, and donors for their support and time. WMUK has a strong and diverse board, with a community development sub committee. Over the past year the board co-opted two new trustees recruited through an open and competitive process.

Most board meetings are held online, with some in-person meetings.

MS noted that the charity continues to deliver against its strategic aims and objectives, summarised in our forthcoming strategic report. MS highlighted that over the previous activity year:

• WMUK trained over 1,000 new editors;
• there were over 7,000 participants in our programmes;
• WMUK’s work was supported by 25,000 volunteer hours;
• 60,000 articles were created or improved on the Wikimedia platforms;
• 25,000 new images on Wikimedia Commons;
• There were 3.5 billion views across our content;
• There were 90 strategic partnerships active.

MS thanked WMUK’s partner organisations who have hosted WIRs in this time: the British Library; GLAM-E Lab; the Global systems Institute (GSI) at the University of Exeter; the Khalili Collections; the National Institute for Health and Care Research; the National Library of Wales; and the University of Edinburgh. WMUK and the University of Leeds are in the process of recruiting a WIR that would be hosted at the university library. Mini residency projects were also delivered at several organisations as part of our Connected Heritage programme, including Aunty Social and Queer Britain.

MS was pleased to note that WMUK ended the 23/24 financial year in a good position with healthy reserves and exceeding donation targets. She noted specific thanks to WMUK’s major funder, the Wikimedia Foundation.

MS extended her thanks to outgoing trustees Julian Manieson and Rod Ward for their service to the charity.

Finance report

Sharon Mitcheson, Head of Finance and Operations delivered the following report:

We had a very successful audit with our new Auditors, Albert Goodman, who we’ve formed an excellent working relationship with. They issued a clean audit and noted that the financial processes and procedures that are in place at Wikimedia UK are thorough and clear. The 2023/24 accounts have now been approved and signed.

To summarise the 2023/24 financial year:

You will see from the accounts that our total turnover, including gifts-in-kind has increased since the previous year to just under £1.1m, making a small contribution to our unrestricted reserves. Towards the end of 2023/24 we received additional, unbudgeted Gift Aid worth over £60k, of which £40k was a back-dated claim from previous years. We used this to invest in our fundraising capacity, and also developed four animations about Wikimedia UK and the work that we do.

Our total reserves at the end of the year were £405k, of which £31k is restricted to be spent in the 24/25 financial year. Restricted Reserves are funds we’ve received from grants or funders which have been restricted for a particular purpose or project. This left us with £373k of unrestricted reserves, which are funds held to protect the charity from unexpected, adverse circumstances.

We are incredibly grateful to our funders who made this year a success:

• The Wikimedia Foundation who support our core work and, additionally, supported the delivery of the Volunteer Support Network, and the Changemakers’ Toolkit
• The European Climate Fund and the Meliore Foundation for continuing to support the work we’re doing on Climate.
• We’d also like to thank the National Lottery Heritage Fund for supporting the Digital Skills project and the Innovation Fund project

Our expenditure on charitable activities increased compared to last year, totalling just over £1m, including gifts-in-kind.  Most notable, we increased spend on Volunteer & Community Support, as well as Partnerships Programmes and External Relations & Advocacy.

You can read all of this in more detail in our Annual Accounts and Report which are available on the website and soon to be published on the Charity Commission and Companies House websites.

Alex Ashby added his comments as Treasurer, noting that the charity is in a great place financially, the high performance of the finance team, and thanking them for their work.

Activity report

As CEO, LCR showcased WMUK’s strategic report ahead of its public launch on Monday, highlighting WMUK’s key achievements over the last year:

https://2024strategicreport.wikimedia.org.uk/

LCR noted that 38% of WMUK’s income in 2023/24 came from the Wikimedia Foundation, with the remaining 62% coming mainly from small donations, grants and Gifts in Kind.

There are more detailed sections on each of WMUK’s three strategic themes, with case studies providing a deeper dive into projects and partnerships. LCR shared particular highlights and updates under each of the three strategic aims, including:

• Dr Martin Poulter’s residence at the Khalili Foundation
• The IDEA Network at the University of St Andrews

• Significant engagement with the Wiki Loves Earth photography competition
• Wikimedian for Climate at the Global Systems Institute at the University of Exeter, for which we have recently had a third year of funding confirmed

Alongside WMUK’s three strategic themes are five strategic pillars:

• Equity, diversity and inclusion embedded across the organisation
• A thriving national and international community
• Public profile and recognition of the organisation and Wikimedia projects
• A positive legislative environment for open knowledge in the UK
• Organisational resilience and sustainability

LCR concluded by reflecting that the strategic report is a useful communication tool, highlighting and celebrating the work of the organisation and community.

Questions on reports

MS opened the floor to questions or comments from the audience. No questions were raised.

Board election

Introducing the candidates

MS invited the four candidates standing for election to introduce themselves.

The full candidate statements are available on the WMUK website: https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/2024_Annual_General_Meeting/Candidate_Statements

• Caroline Ball (CB) - is standing for re-election having been a WMUK trustee for three years, and chairs the Community Development Committee; CB works as an academic librarian, which she feels closely aligns with WMUK’s strategic objectives; wants to spotlight and uplight areas of knowledge that haven’t been recognised
• Francis Grasso (FG) - sees Wikimedia as a vital source of information especially as social media is unreliable; has been a longstanding donor to Wikimedia UK and wants to be actively involved in sharing knowledge, especially information literacy and climate and environment; has experience as a charity treasurer and project management
• Andrew Russell (AR) - professional background in communications and public affairs; sees Wikimedia as one of the last digital utopian projects and access to information and education resources as vital; involved in education policy work, with an interest in areas such as the Online Safety Bill; has a background in partnership building; on the board of Humanists UK
• Monica Westin (MW) - wants to bring her expertise in information to the Wikimedia movement; has a background as a university librarian; concerned about misinformation online; sees Wikimedia as a public good and is an advocate for open access; worked on digital preservation at the Internet Archive and worked on Google Scholar and copyright policy at Google; has been running editathons since 2018

Following the statements MS noted that voting would open shortly, with voting links sent via email and that there would be time to vote later in the meeting

Questions for the candidates

MS opened the floor to questions.

MS asked all the candidates for their opinions on the one area of risk relating to their areas of expertise to prioritise in the charity’s governance and work. MW suggested that generative AI is a risk as the general quality of information on the Internet declines, and a threat to trust in information. AR suggested a political risk that the trust Wikimedia has earned is not permanent and unconditional. FG noted socio-economic access to information, and focusing only on written information may exclude large audiences who encounter information in different formats. CB considers that the long-term engagement of editors is vital to the longevity of the Wikimedia projects; wants to improve onboarding processes for Wikimedia contributors and keep current editors engaged.

CB’s answer addressed both of the questions from Doug Taylor and Douglas Scott, which were submitted over chat during the answers to the preceding question.

VOTING OPENED at 11:00 during the Q&A for candidates

Doug Taylor asked all the candidates what steps they would like to take to increase participation of volunteers in the work of WMUK.

Douglas Scott asked all the candidates how they would go about strengthening community health within the Wikimedia community of volunteers that the chapter represents.

LCR asked the answers to be combined for the questions from Doug and Douglas.

FG focused on motivation, and feels that sharing knowledge is a powerful motivator but there may need to be other motivating factors. AR would like to see greater involvement with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in WMUK’s education work and working with more partners on a local hub level, eg: local libraries which serve existing communities. MW made the point that the editing environment on Wikimedia can be hostile, which is especially off putting to new editors, and advocated for a local version of the Teahouse to encourage a supporting atmosphere.

Voting procedure

SM outlined the ordinary resolutions to:

• To appoint board members
• To note the annual report and accounts
• To set membership fees
• To appoint auditors

The voting link was sent via email at 11:00.

LCR noted that as we use a single transferable vote system, it is important to rank all candidates.

MS noted that the results will be announced by 18:00 on the day of the election. This was a departure from the approach at previous meetings where the aim was to announce results during the AGM; the change was made to give more time to count votes and reduce pressure on the team to produce results within the meeting itself.

Presentation of Honorary Member Awards

CB announced the award of Honorary Membership to:

• Jane Carlin
• Chris Keating
• Marnie Woodward

Introducing WMUK’s five year strategy for 2025-2030

LCR presented WMUK’s strategy. Drawing on the current three-year strategy it works towards the following long-term outcomes:

• Wikimedia reflects our diverse world and is free from bias
• Wikimedia is a welcoming and sustainable platform for volunteers
• Wikimedia is recognised as a vital source of reliable information
• UK society is less polarised as a result of high levels of information literacy
• WMUK plays an essential role within the global Wikimedia movement
• Wikimedia UK is a thought leader in harnessing the information ecosystem
• to support a more informed, democratic and equitable society

There are six strategic aims, developing from previous work:

• Hold equity, diversity and inclusion at the heart of the organisation and our charitable activities, increasing the involvement and representation of the global majority and other minoritised groups and subjects.
• Develop and diversify the UK community of contributors, volunteers and community leaders; recruiting new editors, celebrating and amplifying the work of longstanding contributors, and supporting effective project governance
• Increase free, verified and open access to knowledge and information about the climate crisis and other important topics, by delivering impactful projects with relevant partners, and advocating for the release of content
• Support the public’s ability to make informed decisions about critical issues by developing information literacy skills, promoting digital citizenship, advocating for the responsible use of AI, and campaigning for public policy measures that support and sustain a healthy information ecosystem
• Make a significant contribution to the overall Wikimedia ecosystem and the delivery of the Wikimedia 2030 strategy through international support, collaboration, leadership and innovation
• Elevate Wikimedia UK's influence and impact by communicating its work to a wide range of audiences; building visibility and profile and demonstrating thought leadership through our media activities, campaigns, research, publications and speaking engagements

To achieve its ambitious strategic aims, WMUK aims to grow its income by 50% by 2030.

LCR noted that the shift to remote working has resulted in a new way of working which allowed WMUK to end its lease at the Lavington Street office and take up a new, smaller office space at the British Library (as of the start of September 2024).

Thanks and closing remarks from the Chair

MS closed the meeting at 11:27 by thanking all members for attending.

VOTING CLOSED AT 12:05