J.K. Rowling established Lumos to help children living in institutions. The organization began in 2005 under the name Children’s High Level Group and was renamed Lumos in 2010.
Lumos campaigns for children to live with families or in family-based settings rather than in large residential institutions. Its work addresses institutionalization, poverty, disability, and child-protection systems.
The charity takes its name from the light-producing spell in the Harry Potter books. Rowling has connected the organization’s mission with the idea of bringing children out of hidden or neglected conditions and into safer family environments.