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| area_served = United Kingdom | product = | mission = To help people and organisations create and preserve open knowledge, and to help provide easy access for all. | focus = | method = Public outreach | revenue = over £1 million | endowment = | num_volunteers = | num_employees = 8 | num_members = | subsid = | opponents = | owner = | former name = Wiki UK Limited | homepage = }} Wikimedia UK (WMUK) is a registered charity established to support volunteers in the United Kingdom who work on Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia. As such, it is a Wikimedia chapter approved by the Wikimedia Foundation which owns and hosts those projects. Wikimedia UK started out as Wiki Educational Resources Limited, but due to financial difficulties and other problems the organization dissolved and was replaced by Wiki UK Limited. After its first attempt to gain charitable status in 2009 failed, the group subsequently made changes to its charter in order to satisfy the charity criteria and was recognized as a charity in 2011. During the same year, WMUK added full-time staff and established a permanent office in London. The chapter has several collaborations with museums and other institutions and has organised events for volunteers aimed at adding content to Foundation projects. Several of the organization's board members have been involved in controversies related to their contributions to Wikipedia, including claims that the Gibraltarpedia collaboration organised by a trustee was being used for promotional purposes. The organisation states its mission as being "to help people and organisations create and preserve open knowledge, and to help provide easy access for all".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Vision, values and mission )〕 ==History== The first iteration of Wikimedia UK was founded as Wiki Educational Resources Limited (WER) and was incorporated on 14 February 2006 with Alison Wheeler serving as chair of the board and Chief Executive Officer of WER.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://data.companieshouse.gov.uk/doc/company/05708269 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.alisonwheeler.net/ )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/User:Alison_Wheeler )〕 WER faced several problems during its time as a chapter organization that included difficulty in its financing efforts and in its relationship with the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF). Its persistent financial difficulties left the organization with debts it was unable to pay and on 28 August 2008 Wheeler announced on the WMUK mailing list that she was planning to call an Extraordinary General Meeting to decide on a proposal to dissolve the group.〔(【引用サイトリンク】) Resignation of Arkady Rose">url=http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediauk-l/2008-August/002078.html )〕 Wiki Educational Resources formally dissolved on 31 March 2009.〔 Wiki UK Limited was incorporated as a private not-for-profit company under the Companies act 2006 on 5 November 2008 and, after the WMF terminated recognition of its predecessor, the organization was officially recognized as a chapter in January 2009.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://data.companieshouse.gov.uk/doc/company/06741827 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Approval_of_Wikimedia_UK )〕 It applied for official recognition of charitable status to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) the same year, but was denied. The HMRC argued that WMUK's purpose of freely disseminating information through Wikipedia would not qualify as charitable unless it included teaching and education as part of its activities. Andrew Turvey, secretary of the WMUK, responded to the ruling by pledging to seek legal advice before appealing the decision. Following the rejection of its registration-application by the HMRC, Wikimedia UK amended its constitution by adopting new Articles of Association derived from an approved model for charitable status and applied to the Charity Commission for registration as a charity, which was granted in November 2011 once WMUK had met the Commission's minimum income requirement of £5,000. The Charity Commission had initially rejected WMUK's application as an educational charity but ultimately was able with a little help from WMUK's legal advisers to register it as a library-resource charity. A year later, Wikimedia UK hosted the three-day Wikimedia Fundraising Summit in Bristol. Christopher Brown of Bristol 24-7 described this as the first time the group had "hosted an event of this importance to the global movement." The following January, WMUK organised a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Wikipedia's founding at University of Bristol together with other groups such as the Bristol City Council and Bristol Festival of Ideas. Co-founder Jimmy Wales gave a public lecture at the celebration. During its 2011 annual conference, Wikimedia UK announced its plans to open a permanent office and hire full-time staff within a year. During its efforts to establish a full-time staff, Wikimedia UK was assisted by several groups and individuals such as the president of Wikimedia Deutschland and prospect-us, a recruitment agency specializing in non-profits, who helped vet candidates for the position of CEO.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/09/help-us-choose-our-chief-executive/ )〕 After introducing the final three CEO candidates to the community at a London "wikimeet" in September, WMUK announced on the 26th of that month that it had chosen Jon Davies, former CEO of Families Need Fathers, for the position.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/09/welcoming-our-new-chief-executive/ )〕 In a renewed effort to gain official recognition of charitable status, the board of WMUK had called an EGM to approve amended Objects and related charitable clauses in its Memorandum and Articles of Association pursuant to the advice of their legal team and the Charity Commission.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/09/egm-16th-october-help-us-become-a-charity/ )〕 At the meeting, the proposed amendment was passed by a vote of 49 to none.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2011/10/27/ )〕 The Commission registered the company as a charity in November 2011, thereby allowing it to claim the Gift Aid tax incentive from HMRC on its donations from UK taxpayers. In its ruling the Commission said that WMUK provided a "public resource" by supporting public access to information through Wikipedia. As it did not serve the charitable purposes specifically outlined in the 2006 Charities Act, the ruling referred to a provision of the act allowing for considerations based on case law. Jonathan Burchfield, a partner from the law firm that represented WMUK in its application, stated that the ruling was unprecedented in charity law. During the proceedings, the group had to prove to the Commission that there were tight controls over Wikipedia content to prevent abuse. Following the ruling, Wikimedia UK stated it would have a fundraising effort aimed at raising a million pounds to support Foundation projects.〔 The chapter opened its new offices in central London on 14 November, changing its registered address from its previous location in Nottingham.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://opencorporates.com/filings/100729232 )〕 At its 2012 annual conference on 12 May, public relations experts gave a presentation on their efforts to collaborate with Wikimedia. Board member Steve Virgin described these efforts to work with the PR industry as "a positive first step" in establishing best practices to address concerns about the industry's work and conflict of interest editing on Wikipedia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wikimedia UK」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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