J.K. Rowling founded the charity Lumos in 2005 to help vulnerable children.
The organisation was originally established as the Children’s High Level Group after Rowling encountered reporting about children living in institutions. It later adopted the name Lumos, taken from the light-producing spell in the Harry Potter books. The charity works internationally to support family-based care and to reduce the use of large residential institutions for children.
Lumos argues that children generally benefit from growing up with families or in family-like settings rather than in institutions. Its programmes and advocacy have focused on systems affecting children separated from parents, including social care, health, and education.
Lumos is not a fictional organisation and is separate from Rowling’s other charitable activities, including the Volant Charitable Trust. Its name is sometimes mistaken for a Harry Potter fan project because of the magical reference, but it is a real nonprofit organisation.