J.K. Rowling established the London-based children’s charity Lumos in 2005.
The organization was originally called the Children’s High Level Group. Rowling became its president after helping draw attention to children living in institutions and other harmful forms of residential care. The charity later adopted the name Lumos, referring to the light-producing spell in the Harry Potter books.
Lumos works internationally to help end the institutionalization of children and support family-based care. Its central argument is that children generally develop better when they can grow up in families or community settings rather than large institutions.
The charity’s name is sometimes confused with the title of a Rowling-founded charitable trust or with well-known British fundraising organizations. Lumos is specifically associated with children’s social care reform and the replacement of institutions with family and community support.