The event brought together editors with two decades of contribution behind them alongside newer volunteers, partners, leaders from the open knowledge sector, policymakers, staff, trustees, members, funders and donors. It was a powerful reminder of the breadth, generosity and commitment of the community that has helped make Wikimedia’s mission real in the UK.

From its beginnings in 2001, Wikipedia has grown into a global public resource spanning more than 300 language editions and a vibrant network of sister projects. Every day, it helps billions of people explore ideas, answer questions and follow their curiosity.

At a time when reliable information, media literacy and public access to knowledge matter more than ever, the gathering was also an opportunity to reflect on the continuing importance of Wikimedia UK’s mission: enabling people in the UK to engage with open knowledge, access reliable information, develop their understanding of the world and make informed decisions about issues that affect them.

We were honoured to welcome Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales as our guest of honour. Jimmy presented Wikimedia UK’s Silver Jubilee Awards, recognising volunteers whose contributions have had a lasting impact on the UK Wikimedia community over the past 25 years.

Silver Jubilee Award nominees

There were more than 20 nominations for 18 potential recipients. The five award winners were proposed by a small subcommittee and approved by Wikimedia UK’s Board of Trustees.

Below is the full list of nominees:

Alice White, Andy Mabbett, Daria Cybulska, Ed Saperia, Ewan McAndrew, Femke Nijsse, Jason Evans, Jess Wade, Kelly Foster, Kirsty Ross, Lucy Hinnie, Lucy Moore, Martin Poulter, Mike Peel, User, Roger Bamkin, Sammy Fox and Zeyi He.

Silver Jubilee Award winners

Huge congratulations to the five Silver Jubilee Award winners.

Andy Mabbett

Andy’s volunteer work is a huge part of Wikimedia UK’s story, and of Wikimedia more broadly, since he began editing in 2003. He has given training, run events, built partnerships and been a mine of knowledge and insight for other volunteers.

Andy was an early adopter of the Wikimedian in Residence model and pioneered ways for institutions to share open knowledge, including through residencies at the Royal Society of Chemistry, ARKive, a charity documenting threatened species, and the Disruptive Media Learning Lab at Coventry University.

Andy also set up the Voice Intro Project, encouraging the subjects of Wikipedia articles to record their own voices. The project famously resulted in a recording made aboard the International Space Station.

Throughout his work, Andy has consistently championed inclusion, particularly the accessibility of Wikimedia projects for users with disabilities. He has remained committed to the vision that we are not simply building websites, but sharing knowledge freely with everyone.

Kelly Foster

Kelly has been a driving force in supporting the addition of content about Black people, who have historically been underrepresented on Wikimedia projects, as well as in training new editors. She has been part of the Wikimedia movement since 2012 and began volunteering with Wikimedia UK in 2016.

Kelly exemplifies leadership and vision. She has served as a trustee of Wikimedia UK and worked as a Wikimedian in Residence with the Making African Connections research project. She is an excellent trainer and advocate, inspiring new contributors and helping organisations understand the value of Wikimedia.

Kelly combines enthusiasm with informed and necessary criticism. She has consistently encouraged the Wikimedia movement to engage with the legacy of colonialism in shaping the world we work in. She reminds us that open knowledge is a transformative project that should challenge, rather than perpetuate, the dominance of Western culture and the best-resourced institutions.

Kirsty Ross

Dr Kirsty Ross’s involvement with Wikimedia UK since 2020 has created an important connection between the charity and higher education. Kirsty is a public engagement professional at the University of St Andrews. She founded the IDEA Network with Dr Abd Alsattar Ardati, which aims to “make knowledge production inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible to all people, regardless of their background, location, or culture”.

Kirsty’s insight into public engagement is invaluable, and she brings fantastic ideas about how to engage people with Wikimedia. Her work shows a deep determination to widen opportunities to contribute to open knowledge, helping ensure that the shared knowledge represented through Wikimedia projects is more reflective of society as a whole.

She also works generously to recognise and champion those around her and those working alongside her.

Lucy Moore

Since joining the Wikimedia movement in 2019, Dr Lucy Moore has become a hugely valued part of the community. She is active in initiatives including Women in Red and has written a Wikipedia article for a woman from every country in the world.

Lucy is innovative and creative as an editor, trainer and colleague. With her deep knowledge of Wikimedia and the GLAM sector, she is able to identify gaps and ways of working that bring real benefit to communities and institutions.

Her activism and attention to marginalised experiences and voices make many Wikimedia projects richer and more equitable. Whether she is investigating ontologies of smell, celebrating queer and trans lives, or getting stuck into talk pages to address systemic bias, Lucy brings care, rigour and imagination to her work.

She also contributes a considerable amount of volunteer time to movement-wide Wikimedia bodies, including the Global Resource Distribution Committee.

Martin Poulter

With a depth of knowledge built through involvement in the movement since 2005, Dr Martin Poulter has been connected with Wikimedia UK from its early days and was part of the push to have it recognised as a charity.

Alongside his role in governance, Martin has been a highly active trainer, supporting Wikimedia UK’s Train the Trainer programme and helping people learn about Wikimedia. He is an excellent communicator, able to help institutions see the value of sharing information openly.

His work as a Wikimedian in Residence across a range of settings, including the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries, has led the way on important Wikidata work and inspired other volunteers to share collections data. His ongoing work with the Khalili Foundation has supported the release of many unique items onto Wikimedia platforms and helped the movement reflect on its coverage of non-Western topics.

Martin is a generous advocate for open knowledge across many different communities. He is kind, thoughtful and has been a huge help to many people over the past two decades.

Gift Knowledge, Your Way

As we mark these landmark anniversaries, we are also inviting everyone to be part of Wikimedia UK’s Gift Knowledge Your Way birthday campaign. Not everyone wants to edit Wikipedia, and that’s completely okay. There are many ways to support open knowledge, and one of the most powerful is by making a donation. Your support helps Wikimedia UK continue its work with volunteers, educators, cultural institutions and communities across the UK to make reliable information more open, accessible and representative. Please consider making a gift today and helping us build the next chapter of open knowledge.

Thank you

Many thanks to everyone who joined us, contributed to the milestone celebrations and continues to make open knowledge possible. Particular thanks go to our Chief Executive, Lucy Crompton-Reid, our Chair, Lucy Yu, and our Vice Chair and Treasurer, Alex Ashby, for helping make the occasion so special.

Here’s to the next chapter: more knowledge, more participation and more people empowered to make informed decisions about the world around them.

The post Celebrating 25 years of Wikipedia and 15 years of Wikimedia UK appeared first on Wikimedia UK.

Adam Harangozó stepped into the role in December 2025, combining sharing openly licensed content, training and preparing learning resources, with bibliometrics tools to help researchers make their work more visible. The project will last for two years and aims to support LSE and the wider international social science community in developing open knowledge and sharing insights and expertise through the Wikimedia projects. Adam has previously worked as a Wikimedian in Residence for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Blinken Open Society Archives (based in Budapest).

At Wikimedia UK, we are very excited to be working with both LSE and Adam. This is the fourth residency active at a UK university – joining Edinburgh, Exeter, and Leeds – and the first to focus specifically on social science.

As well as joining LSE’s community, Adam joins Wikimedia UK’s community of Wikimedians in Residence who learn from and support each other. LSE’s ‘Research for the World’ strategy aligns closely with WMUK’s aims, setting out how LSE seeks to “generate the knowledge and insight the world needs to build a more sustainable, prosperous and equitable future.”

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Alongside its new Education Lead Sally Latham, Wikimedia UK has also appointed its first Topics for Impact Coordinator. This blog discusses what Topics for Impact means for the Wikimedia movement in both a global and UK context.

Introduction

‘If we fail to move beyond speeches into real action, our societies will lose faith’ – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

In November, over 56,000 individual delegates made their way to Belém, Brazil, to participate in the COP30 climate summit. Each day the issue of climate change becomes more and more pertinent to lives across the globe. The impact of our ‘real action’, or indeed lack of action, when it comes to questions of climate, will be felt for generations to come. 

This urgency is crystallised in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals which cover a number of crucial elements of human life: from energy to the economy, oceans to land, health to hunger. In these aims, the UN lays out ‘a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future’. A commitment to these sustainable goals is integral to the Wikimedia UK 2025–30 Strategy. Under our Strategic Aim 3, we will: 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.

With the proliferation of Large Language Models often referred to as “AI” and mis- and disinformation, keeping information on Wikipedia accessible, free and moreover, verifiable, has never been more important. In shifting focus and time to topics for impact, we will effect change that has positive and powerful repercussions for society.

What are topics for impact?

The question of what ‘topics for impact’ are, and how they relate to both our work and global society, is an important one. Looking at the Wikimedia movement’s work to ‘identify topics for impact’, we can see a real and tangible focus on ‘the different ways in which Wikimedia content can make an impact on improving people’s lives’. In looking at the social issues underpinning the UN SDGs, a picture starts to emerge of Topics for Impact as those which directly concern human wellbeing: in this context, health, human rights and climate.

Wikimedia UK and Topics for impact

Precisely defining what these topics for impact are is a curious process: on the one hand, the answers are crystallised in the UN SDGs. On the other, there is an element of reactiveness to defining a topic for impact, as the world is ever-changing, with new, pressing issues and questions emerging in unpredictable ways and at pace. At Wikimedia UK we are committed to making informed decisions about where to put our resources and expertise in open knowledge practices.

Wikimedia UK has a strong history of work which intersects with what we now term topics for impact. Since 2022, we have supported our first climate-focussed residency at the Global Systems Institute, with Wikimedian-in-Residence Tatjana Baleta. The articles edited as part of this project have gained over 190 million views. 

From 2021 to 2025, Adam Harangozó was Wikimedian-in-Residence at the National Institute for Health Research, improving access to health information on Wiki. Ongoing work at partner organisations like the IDEA Network (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility in Open Knowledge Network) at the University of St Andrews reflects our commitment to engaging with partners doing crucial work in areas like medical knowledge equity. 

In establishing a permanent role on the Programmes team for Topics for Impact, Wikimedia UK is further emphasising our commitment to these vital areas of research and development, enriching existing partnerships and seeking new areas of work.

Where are we looking first?

Applying large global issues to a local context can be daunting: how climate change presents itself, for example, varies hugely from country to country. For the four nations of the UK, we will be looking closely at community needs, as well as strengthening our relationship with the Wikimedia Foundation’s Wiki For Human Rights campaign. Even closer to home, our latest Mini Wiki challenge focuses on images of climate impact and the elements on day-to-day life in the UK.

Our commitment to ongoing annual drives like Wiki Loves Earth and 1lib1ref will be reinforced with topics for impact in mind, and newer initiatives such as 2025’s Mini Wiki will be utilised as tools for change in the key areas of impact: health, human rights, and climate change. Through promoting editing, upskilling volunteers and interested members of the public, and close attention to metrics of change, we will develop and deliver an impactful programme of work.

This programme will be sustained by the creation of new partnerships with like-minded organisations working in these areas. There is a reciprocity to how we work in our medium and long-term projects: in helping to transform content in a topic area, we uplift the voices of partner organisations, and in turn, they may find the way they work shifting in new and helpful directions, thanks to an increased understanding of the value of open knowledge.

A little about me

I’ve worked in the Wikimedia movement for nearly five years now, beginning my career as Wikimedian in Residence at the British Library (2021–23) and going on to work with the Connected Heritage project (2021–23), the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (2022–24) and the GLAM-E Lab (2023–24).

I currently work part-time at the University of Leeds as their Wikimedia and Open Knowledge Adviser alongside my work as Topics for Impact Coordinator at Wikimedia UK.

Get involved

If you have any questions, thoughts or ideas around topics for impact, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with programmes@wikimedia.org.uk. We are always interested to hear from potential partners, contributors and interested parties.

The post Topics for impact appeared first on Wikimedia UK.

Today, Wikimedia UK is announcing a £56,198 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to safeguard access to the UK’s 3D heritage data and create a sustainable future. 

3D digitisation has rapidly become more affordable and accessible to heritage organisations seeking new ways to investigate the historic collections and spaces in their charge, and engage audiences with the stories connected with them. At the same time, national UK infrastructure has not kept pace with vast amounts of 3D data being produced leading many organisations to rely on commercial and proprietary platforms for storage, hosting, and dissemination tools. As the priorities of commercial platforms and the needs of the heritage community substantially differ, sustainable access to the UK’s digital 3D heritage data is in a precarious position.

The UK’s digital 3D heritage data is a unique asset that is of immense value for both professional researchers and general audiences alike and without this funding from the Heritage Fund access to this valuable resource is at risk of being lost. The UK Heritage 3D Data at Risk project will provide both short term guidance for UK heritage organisations to safeguard their 3D data, as well as indicate a long term strategy for sustainable access informed by the needs of professionals and audiences. In short, the project aims to:

• Save heritage by creating a strategic plan to preserve and provide long-term access to over 5,000 at-risk digital 3D models currently on the Sketchfab platform. 
• Protect the environment by researching and recommending sustainable 3D publication workflows that reduce duplicated effort and server usage. 
• Champion inclusion, access, and participation by engaging a diverse range of stakeholders through various methods, including providing financial support to remove barriers to involvement. 
• Boost organisational sustainability by giving UK heritage institutions a practical roadmap to future-proof their 3D collections. 

If you are working with 3D data within the UK heritage sector, UK Heritage 3D Data at Risk would love to hear from you. You can contribute your organisation’s story via a short online interview, online survey, participating in an online workshop, or joining us for an in-person event towards the end of the project. Please visit this WikiCommons page or send a message to 3Ddata@wikimedia.org.uk for more information.

Quotes

Lucy Crompton-Reid, Wikimedia UK Chief Executive said: “We are extremely pleased to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players we will be working on a roadmap to preserve 3D heritage. 3D files are a fantastic way for the public to explore the past, getting up close to objects that may be hundreds of miles away or behind glass to preserve them. The scans and models of everything from finger rings to entire buildings are an invaluable resource that must remain accessible now, and for future generations.”

Independent digital heritage consultant Thomas Flynn said “With gratitude to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery players, I am delighted that we can move forward with this project. This funding provides a critical lifeline for thousands of unique 3D digital heritage assets from heritage organisations across the UK that are currently at risk. Working in partnership with Wikimedia UK and engaging with heritage professionals from across the country, we can now build a collaborative roadmap to help ensure this invaluable data is preserved and remains accessible for researchers, educators, and the public for generations to come.”

Stuart McLeod, Director of London and South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re proud to support this vital project that will look to create best practice to safeguard the UK’s digital heritage. It will offer guidance for both small and larger organisations for preserving 3D heritage, including thinking about the environmental impacts. It will help to ensure that heritage organisations across the UK can continue to innovate, engage and inspire through digital technologies and protect our heritage for future generations.”

NOTES TO EDITORS 

About Wikimedia UK

Wikimedia UK is the national charity for the global Wikimedia movement. Our mission is to enable people to engage with open knowledge and access reliable information in order to develop their understanding of the world, and make informed decisions about issues that affect them. We work with educators, communities and cultural institutions to make knowledge more equitable, representative and accessible across Wikipedia and its sister projects.

About Thomas Flynn

Thomas Flynn is a UK based digital heritage specialist offering services and advice related to 3D digitisation, online publishing, open access, storytelling, and interoperability. He has worked with UNESCO, Europeana, Oxford University, Creative Commons, and many more organisations. Thomas is a Visiting Fellow to Bournemouth University’s Faculty of Archaeology & Anthropology, a co-chair of the IIIF 3D Community Group, and sits on the advisory board of the Rijksmuseum’s 2and3D Photography Conference. Thomas runs the Spatial Heritage Review newsletter and LinkedIn Group, is co-author of glam3d.org, and co-founder of museuminabox.org. Previously, Thomas was Cultural Heritage Lead at sketchfab.com and launched the British Museum’s first public online collection of open access 3D scans.

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund 

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.

Further information

For further information, images and interviews please contact Thomas Flynn and Richard Nevell on 3Ddata@wikimedia.org.uk.

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I’m delighted to be joining Wikimedia UK as the new Education Lead. It’s an honour to work with a charity that champions free and open knowledge for all, equality in online representation, digital democracy, and critical thinking. I look forward to working with schools to develop a programme of information literacy that reflects these values.

My background is in Further Education, where I taught philosophy in Birmingham for more than 22 years. I recently completed a PhD exploring philosophy and mental health, building on my long-standing interest in how ideas shape the way we live and learn.

Alongside my teaching, I serve on the Executive Committee of the Children’s Media Foundation. I am especially interested in how media can be used to promote critical thinking in an age of increasing misinformation and fake news.

Having worked with young people for many years, I’ve seen first-hand how rapidly the ways they consume information are changing and how urgent it is to make information literacy an integral part of education.I would love to connect with others who share these interests. Please feel free to get in touch at sally.latham@wikimedia.org.uk .

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Wikimedia UK has today published its latest Strategic Report, showcasing progress and impact across its key themes of knowledge equity, information literacy, and climate and the environment. The report highlights how the charity’s work is helping individuals and communities to access, contribute to, and critically engage with free knowledge at a time of growing challenges to information integrity worldwide.

Over the past year, Wikimedia UK has strengthened its partnerships with educators, cultural institutions, and civil society organisations to expand inclusive knowledge and develop critical information literacy skills. The report also demonstrates how Wikimedia UK is supporting the creation and dissemination of accurate, open knowledge on climate change, an issue of urgent global importance. An independent evaluation found clear evidence of impact, from embedding information literacy in schools and universities to amplifying underrepresented voices on Wikipedia.

Explore how you can support Wikimedia UK’s mission, whether by donating, partnering, or volunteering, to help build a more open and informed future.

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Lucy was co-opted through an open, competitive recruitment process. As founder and CEO of the Centre for Net Zero, and the UK government’s AI Champion for Clean Energy, Lucy brings valuable experience in organisational leadership, open data, public policy, and emerging technologies – all highly relevant to Wikimedia UK’s future direction. During the recruitment process Lucy also demonstrated a deep commitment to open access, with experience of leading and implementing open data policies and practice, and a thoughtful, collaborative approach to charity governance. 

Lucy Yu comments:

“I’m very pleased to join Wikimedia UK as the new Chair of the Board. Having built my career around technology for the public good, I am a huge admirer of the Wikimedia projects and often think of Wikipedia as one of the great wonders of our internet world. As chair, my priorities are to drive the widest possible access to Wikimedia’s open content, recognising in particular the role and impact of new AI-based technologies and tools; and to find and nurture the next generation of contributors to these vital resources. I am delighted to inherit an impressive and dedicated set of colleagues in this mission and I am looking forward to working with Lucy Crompton-Reid, Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK, and her team. Many and grateful thanks go to my predecessor Monisha Shah, and interim Chair Alex Ashby.” 

Lucy joins Wikimedia UK as our new Chair at an exciting time, as we reflect on a period of sustained growth in the charity’s income, impact and profile, and look forward to delivering our ambitious new strategy for 2025 to 2030. 

Alex Ashby comments:

“It has been a privilege to serve as Interim Chair during this important transitional period for Wikimedia UK. I’m delighted to welcome Lucy Yu to the role and confident that her leadership will be transformative for the charity. Her collaborative style and strategic insight stood out throughout the recruitment process, and I look forward to supporting her and the Board as we embark on the next chapter of Wikimedia UK’s journey.”

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Update – 10 July 2026: The Wikimedia Foundation was notified by Ofcom that Wikipedia is not currently considered a Category 1 service under the Online Safety Act. However, Ofcom has placed Wikipedia on a “watch list” of platforms that do not currently meet the Category 1 criteria but could be reassessed and designated as Category 1 in the future.

Wikimedia UK welcomes Ofcom’s recognition that Wikipedia should not currently be treated in the same way as the largest commercial online platforms. Wikipedia is a public-interest, not-for-profit knowledge project, created and maintained by a global community of volunteers and governed by principles of openness, privacy and freedom of expression.

However, the possibility of future Category 1 designation remains a serious concern. The additional legal duties associated with this status could pose a significant threat to Wikipedia’s volunteer-led model, the privacy and safety of its contributors, and the public’s ability to access and share free and reliable knowledge.

Without clearer and more sustainable limits on how services are categorised, Wikipedia remains vulnerable to a future reassessment. Wikimedia UK will continue to work alongside the Wikimedia Foundation and partners across the open knowledge sector to advocate for an Online Safety Act framework that recognises and protects public-interest, community-led platforms.

Update – 12 September 2025: The The Wikimedia Foundation will not appeal the UK High Court’s decision to dismiss its challenge to the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) Categorisation Regulations.

Update – 11 August 2025: The UK High Court dismissed the Wikimedia Foundation’s legal challenge of the Online Safety Act’s categorisation thresholds, which could see Wikipedia designated as a category 1 service.

Whilst this could be interpreted as a step backwards for free expression, privacy rights, and open access to knowledge, it’s clear that the judge recognised the value of Wikipedia and the need to protect public interest websites from the most damaging requirements of the law.

Our entire community in the UK remains firm in our commitment to keep Wikipedia open, accessible, and free. We will continue to advocate for a regulatory framework that recognises public interest knowledge platforms as distinct and vital contributors to democracy and free expression.

You can read the Wikimedia Foundation’s full statement here.

Potential legal challenge of the UK Online Safety Act Categorisation Regulations by the Wikimedia Foundation

8 May 2025 – Wikimedia UK is not a party to this claim as we are not the legal hosts of Wikipedia.

Wikimedia UK is an independent charity based in the UK. As the national chapter for the global Wikimedia movement, we are committed to open knowledge and free access to information. Wikimedia Foundation is a key funder of our work. We also receive project-based funding from other organisations such as the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Big Lottery Fund and Swire Charitable Trust in the UK, as well as donations from individuals. 

As an independent educational charity, Wikimedia UK has been an active advocate for public interest projects like Wikipedia to be exempt from the UK Online Safety Act. We have participated in a wide number of consultations, debates, discussions with ministers, parliamentarians, civil servants, academics, educationalists, child rights organisations, the regulator and those working to promote free expression to express our concerns about the Online Safety Act and its implications for access to information in the UK. We have clearly articulated our view that Wikipedia should not be subject to the most onerous requirements of the UK’s regulatory framework for online safety, which has been designed principally for profit-making, algorithmically driven social media platforms. 

We share Wikimedia Foundation’s concerns about the recently announced categorisation thresholds for the Online Safety Act, and their implications for Wikipedia.

You can read the Wikimedia Foundation’s blog post on their legal challenge here. Media enquiries can be directed to press@wikimedia.org at the Wikimedia Foundation.

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