Message from the
Chair of the Board at Wikimedia UK

I am delighted to be writing my first ‘Message from the Chair of the Board’ for Wikimedia UK’s Strategic Report for the financial year ending 31st January 2022. I joined the board in July 2021 as Chair Elect and took on the Chair role from 1st October. The past year has been a rich one for me as I’ve got to know the staff, trustees and wider community of Wikimedia UK, and learnt more about the open knowledge movement.

Huge thanks are due to all colleagues and trustees who have welcomed and supported me in my new role. I am grateful to Lorna Campbell, Acting Chair from July to October 2021, for her generous insights into the organisation and the workings of the Board. Lorna returned to her role as Vice Chair following my formal appointment to the Chair role, where she has continued to play a valuable role in the governance of the charity.

I would particularly like to thank Nick Poole, who retired from his Trustee role after six years in July 2021, and whom I know to have been a strategic, empathetic and highly knowledgeable Chair of the Board from March 2020 until his retirement. Thanks must also be extended to Doug Taylor, who also retired in July 2021 after serving a six-year term, in his second time on the Board of Wikimedia UK.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to Jan-Bart de Vreede, Chair of Wikimedia Netherlands, who has been a source of support and friendship in connecting with Wikimedia chapters in other parts of the world.

I know that 2021 continued to present particular challenges for the staff team, as they responded to the changing realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. I would like to thank the whole team for their continued work and commitment over the past year. The same is true of our organisational partners, of course. The past couple of years have been some of the most challenging ever experienced by the cultural and education sectors, and the resilience shown by our partner institutions, and their ongoing commitment to open knowledge and digital literacy, inspires faith in our purpose and a greater commitment to our mission.

As a newcomer to Wikimedia UK, one of the things I have found most impressive is the enormous contribution made to our mission and vision by volunteers. Whilst in-person meetings and events have naturally been limited over the past months, I look forward to meeting volunteers, members and other stakeholders over the next few years, and finding out more about how Wikimedia UK can best work with you to help achieve open knowledge for all.