J.K. Rowling established Lumos in 2005 to help disadvantaged children.
Lumos was founded by Rowling as the Children’s High Level Group, a charity focused on ending the institutionalization of children. It was renamed Lumos in 2010. The organization works to replace large residential institutions with family- and community-based care.
The name refers to “Lumos,” a light-producing spell in the Harry Potter universe. The charity’s work is separate from Rowling’s fiction, although the name connects its public identity with the books. Lumos has operated internationally, including projects involving children in institutional care and family support.
Lumos is sometimes mixed up with large general children’s charities such as Save the Children or Comic Relief. Those organizations have different origins and structures; Lumos is specifically associated with Rowling and with reforming systems that separate children from families.