J.K. Rowling founded Lumos in 2005 to help end the institutionalization of children.
The organization was originally called the Children’s High Level Group. Rowling became involved after reading a newspaper article about children living in institutions, where the conditions and lack of family-based care concerned her. The charity later adopted the name Lumos, taken from a light-related spell in the Harry Potter books.
Lumos campaigns for children to be supported in families and communities rather than being placed in large residential institutions. Its work has included advocacy, research, and practical programs in countries where children may be separated from their families because of poverty, disability, or inadequate social services.
The charity’s name is not a claim that Rowling’s fictional magic is real. It is a symbolic reference to the wand-lighting spell “Lumos,” linking the organization’s mission with the idea of bringing hidden problems into public view.