UK Wikimedian of the Year 2023

The UK Wikimedian of the Year Awards recognise the work of the community that collaborates with and supports Wikimedia UK. Each award is for a different type of activity. We are looking for people and partnerships within the Wikimedia UK community who have really impressed you with their open knowledge work, especially in 2022/23.

We are particularly keen to hear about people and organisations who delivered projects addressing our strategic themes of knowledge equity, information literacy, and climate and environment.

For individuals, if you know their Wikimedia username please use that in the nomination. We will not disclose real names without permission.

UK Wikimedian of the Year

Nick Sheppard

Nick has advocated for Wikimedia projects within Leeds and in the university sector like few people ever have, and he’s really taken on the values of the Wikimedia movement, not just in his professional life. Nick has also been pushing for the UK Reproducibility Network to include guidance on Wikimedia in its advice to researchers. The Wikimedia Champions project they ran at Leeds has been an unusually successful student project, getting PhD students to contribute to Wikimedia in lots of ways.

Honourable Mention - Ian Pigott

Ian Pigott has been the engine that keeps Women in Red going. He has organised an astonishing 270 editathons over the last eight years. His efforts have inspired others and he has been tireless in helping the Women in Red project, addressing Wikipedia's gender gap.

Shortlist

Ruby Imrie
Richard Lawson
Lucy Moore
Ian Pigott
Nick Sheppard

Partnership of the Year

Royal College of Nursing's History of Nursing Forum (HONF) "Nurses in Red"

The forum established an editing group to improve and create content relating to the history of nursing on Wikipedia - so far they have improved more than 200 articles which have been viewed nearly 4.5 million times. The group's focus is explicitly diversity focused too: nurses have often been from under-represented groups and making their lives and careers more visible on Wikipedia is so important.

Honourable Mention - Khalili Collections and Dr. Glaire Anderson of the University of Edinburgh

Glaire has supported two classroom projects where her History of Art students evaluated articles about Islamic Art and Science on Wikipedia and improved them, often embedding beautiful 10th/11th century Caliphate images from the Khalilli Collections on Wikimedia Commons into pages where they might not normally be encountered but will more likely be encountered from now on because these pages are so high level/high traffic comparatively

Shortlist

University of Edinburgh
Khalili Collections and Dr. Glaire Anderson University of Edinburgh
The Mixed Museum
National Institute for Health and Care Research
Royal College of Nursing's History of Nursing Forum (HONF) "Nurses in Red"

Up and Coming Wikimedian

Heidi Berg

Heidi Berg is a prolific editor and has updated or created over 300 articles - doing so much for the coverage of Norway’s women’s football team. She also undertook train the trainer courses and helped other newbie editors on a regular basis. At monthly Women in Red editathons, she helps others and even lent her own laptop to one forgetful participant!

Honourable Mention - Sophie Whitfield

Sophie Whitfield is one of Wikimedia UK’s trainers and has shown incredible dedication over the last year in attending, designing, and delivering open knowledge workshops and projects. Sophie has supported projects at Durham University and Newcastle University, helping Wikimedia UK's collaborations with higher education.

Shortlist

Heidi Berg
Joanna Brown
Gill Ryan
Lina Turner
Sophie Whitfield

UK Wikimedian of the Year 2023

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