J.K. Rowling launched the children’s charity Lumos in 2005.
The organization was originally established as the Children’s High Level Group. Its work focuses on ending the institutionalization of children and supporting family-based or community-based care. The charity was later renamed Lumos, a reference to the light-producing spell in the Harry Potter books.
Lumos argues that children generally develop better when they can grow up in families or family-like settings instead of large institutions. Its programs and advocacy have addressed child protection, social care, education, and alternatives to institutional care in several countries.
The charity’s launch year is sometimes mixed up with its later rebranding or with Rowling’s other philanthropic activities. The important distinction is that the organization began in 2005 under its original name. Its mission connects Rowling’s public charitable work with a global child-welfare issue rather than with literary publishing.