2 Overview of Wikimedia UK governance
2.1 Wikimedia UK governance arrangements
Wikimedia UK was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in November 2008. It became a Chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation in 2009 and it registered as a charity in November 2011.
It has grown rapidly, with income of £654,000 in the year to 31 January 2012 and has a high public profile for a charity of its age. It has also been the subject of public debate and at times controversy.
Wikimedia UK currently has six trustees who are also the directors of the company. Five of these trustees were elected by company members at the AGM in May 2012. The standard term is now two years. Two trustees have resigned since the AGM and one has been co-opted. All are currently male. One trustee is at the time of writing blocked on English Wikipedia. The Chair is elected by the board. While there are committees working on projects, there are no governance committees.
In undertaking their role, Wikimedia UK trustees often have contributed much time and thought. We note that in the first 12 months as a charity the board met on 16 occasions. Some of these meetings were held by phone and others over a weekend.
The trustees perform this role as unpaid volunteers and exercise their responsibilities under UK law and practice.
2.2 Governance culture at Wikimedia UK
Before making our assessment of current Wikimedia UK governance in the next chapter we wish to note certain broad features of the culture of this governance.
Wikimedia UK has emerged from being run by a small group of committed volunteers who, with the support of other volunteers, did most of the work themselves. Employing a Chief Executive and staff requires board members to adopt a new role and form new relationships. In conducting this review we recognise that Wikimedia UK is in the process of this transition, with a Chief Executive and some staff appointed, but with the organisation still dependent on trustees being directly involved in the delivery of some of its projects.
Several people have pointed out to us that there is a disparity in the time different trustees have available to give as trustees. Some have a considerable amount of time and we heard of several emails a day going most days from trustees to staff. This degree of detailed involvement in the organisation can make it challenging for a
