J.K. Rowling founded Lumos in 2005 to support disadvantaged children.
The organization was originally established as the Children’s High Level Group after Rowling wrote an article about children living in institutions. It later became Lumos, taking its name from the light-producing spell in the Harry Potter books.
Lumos campaigns to end the institutionalization of children and to promote family- and community-based care. Its work focuses on children separated from families through poverty, disability, conflict, and other circumstances.
The charity is not the same as Comic Relief, Save the Children, or BBC Children in Need, although all are associated with charitable work involving children. Rowling’s connection to Lumos is especially linked to changing systems of institutional care rather than simply providing fictional or educational entertainment.