J.K. Rowling established Lumos in 2005 to help end the institutionalization of children.
The organization was originally founded as the Children’s High Level Group after Rowling became concerned about children living in institutions and orphanages. It was later renamed Lumos, a reference to the light-producing spell in the Harry Potter series. Lumos works internationally to promote family-based care and improve support for children separated from their families.
The charity’s central position is that children generally benefit from safe family or community care rather than growing up in large residential institutions. Its work includes research, advocacy, and cooperation with governments and local organizations to reform child-protection systems.
Lumos is not the same organization as Comic Relief or Save the Children, both of which also support children but have different histories and structures. The 2005 founding date refers to the organization’s original establishment, before the later Lumos name was adopted.