J.K. Rowling established the charity Lumos to support disadvantaged children.
The organization began in 2005 as the Children’s High Level Group, founded by Rowling and politician Emma Nicholson. It later adopted the name Lumos, referring to the light-producing spell in the Harry Potter books. Lumos campaigns to end the institutionalization of children and promote family- and community-based care.
Its work has focused on children separated from families through poverty, disability, conflict, or inadequate social-care systems. The charity has operated internationally and has advocated for reforms in countries where children live in large residential institutions.
Lumos is not a Harry Potter fan organization, although its name has a literary connection. It is an independent charitable organization with a social-care mission. Rowling’s public charitable work also includes other causes, but Lumos is the organization specifically associated with replacing harmful institutional care with family-based support.