Lumos (charity)

Last updated

Lumos
Formation2005 (relaunched as Lumos in 2010)
TypeNGO/Charity
PurposeChildren/young people's welfare; health/education/social care; family support
Location
  • London, UK (head office)
Region served
Global
Founder and president
J. K. Rowling
Main organ
Board of Trustees, chaired by Carol Copland
Website Official website

Lumos, formerly known as Children's High Level Group and briefly as The Children's Voice, is an international non-governmental charity (NGO) founded by the author of the Harry Potter book series, J. K. Rowling. Lumos promotes an end to the institutionalisation of children worldwide.

Contents

History

Previous logo (2010-2021). Lumos (charity) logo.png
Previous logo (2010-2021).

In 2004, Rowling read an article in The Sunday Times about children with disabilities who were placed in cage beds. [1] She and Emma Nicholson co-founded the Children's High Level Group (CHLG) in 2005. [1] [2] CHLG was briefly renamed The Children's Voice, but then changed back to its original name because "The Children's Voice" was trademarked in the US. [3] It became Lumos, after a spell in Harry Potter (which in the series illuminates the tip of the caster's wand with a bright light), in 2010. [4] Rowling stood down as a trustee in 2013 but continued as the charity's president. [5]

Lumos and other organisations have worked to encourage the European Commission to establish regulations that state that funding to EU member states must be used for community services, not to build or renovate residential institutions.[ citation needed ] Even before the regulations were passed, as a result of years of advocacy and awareness-raising, this principle of funding supporting 'deinstitutionalization' (DI) had already helped divert more than €367 million of EU funding away from institutions towards community services. [6]

Governance and people

Georgette Mulheir stepped down as CEO in 2020 after trustees identified "management and cultural challenges" and commissioned independent reviews into governance and culture. [5]

Peter McDermott joined as CEO in June 2021 succeeding Interim CEO, Sir Roger Singleton. [7] [8]

Carol Copland is the Chair of the Board of Trustees. Other trustees include: Billy DiMichele (Senior Vice President of Scholastic), Tanya Motie, Neena Gill CBE, Nick Pasricha, Dr Doreen Mulenga, Kate Wills, Jimmy Paul and Usman Ali. [9]

The Lumos Foundation USA Board is headed by Billy DiMichele as chairman, other members are Leslie Little who serves as Treasurer and Liz Robbins. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. K. Rowling</span> British author and philanthropist (born 1965)

Joanne Rowling, known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote Harry Potter, a seven-volume fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The series has sold over 600 million copies, been translated into 84 languages, and spawned a global media franchise including films and video games. The Casual Vacancy (2012) was her first novel for adults. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime fiction series, under the alias Robert Galbraith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Voldemort</span> Fictional character from Harry Potter

Lord Voldemort is a character and the main antagonist in J. K. Rowling's series of Harry Potter novels. The character first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was published in 1997, and returned either in person or in flashbacks in each book and its film adaptation in the series except the third, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in which he is only mentioned.

<i>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them</i> 2001 book by J. K. Rowling about the magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a 2001 guide book written by British author J. K. Rowling about the magical creatures in the Harry Potter universe. The original version, illustrated by the author herself, purports to be Harry Potter's copy of the textbook of the same name mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first novel of the Harry Potter series. It includes several notes inside it supposedly handwritten by Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger, detailing their own experiences with some of the beasts described, and including inside jokes relating to the original series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnie Wright</span> English actress and filmmaker

Bonnie Francesca Wright is an English actress, filmmaker, and environmental activist. She is best known for her role as Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter film series.

The Harry Potter fandom is the community of fans of the Harry Potter books and films who participate in entertainment activities that revolve around the series, such as reading and writing fan fiction, creating and soliciting fan art, engaging in role-playing games, socialising on Harry Potter-based forums, and more. The fandom interacts online as well as offline through activities such as fan conventions, participating in cosplay, tours of iconic landmarks relevant to the books and production of the films, and parties held for the midnight release of each book and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MuggleNet</span> Harry Potter fansite

MuggleNet is the Internet's oldest and largest Harry Potter and Wizarding World fansite. MuggleNet was founded in 1999. It has expanded over the years to include a handful of partner podcasts, a separate book blog, over half a dozen published works and live events. At one point, it also ran its own forums, social network and separate fan fiction website. Originally owned by founder Emerson Spartz, MuggleNet became an independently-owned and operated brand in early 2020.

<i>Harry Potter</i> Series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's conflict with Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who intends to become immortal, overthrow the wizard governing body known as the Ministry of Magic, and subjugate all wizards and Muggles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Leaky Cauldron (website)</span> Fan website and blog about Harry Potter

The Leaky Cauldron, also called Leaky, TLC, or Leaky News, is a Harry Potter fansite and blog. The site features news, image and video galleries, downloadable widgets, a chat room and discussion forum, and an essay project called Scribbulus, among other offerings. Since 2005, the Leaky Cauldron has also hosted an official podcast, called PotterCast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evanna Lynch</span> Irish actress (born 1991)

Evanna Patricia Lynch is an Irish actress and activist. She is best known for portraying Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter film series.

Since first coming to wide notice in the late 1990s, the Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling has been the subject of a number of legal disputes. Rowling, her various publishers and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the Harry Potter films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyrights, and also have fielded accusations of copyright theft themselves. The worldwide popularity of the Harry Potter series has led to the appearance of a number of locally-produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, leading to efforts to ban or contain them. While these legal proceedings have countered a number of cases of outright piracy, other attempts have targeted not-for-profit endeavours and have been criticised.

Religious debates over the Harry Potter series of books by J. K. Rowling are based on claims that the novels contain occult or Satanic subtexts. A number of Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Christians have argued against the series, as have some Muslims. Supporters of the series have said that the magic in Harry Potter bears little resemblance to occultism, being more in the vein of fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White, or to the works of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, both of whom are known for writing fantasy novels with Christian subtexts. Far from promoting a particular religion, some argue, the Harry Potter novels go out of their way to avoid discussing religion at all. However, the author of the series, J. K. Rowling, describes herself as a Christian, and many have noted the Christian references which she includes in the final novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

<i>The Tales of Beedle the Bard</i> Book by J. K. Rowling

The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a book of fairy tales by author J. K. Rowling. There is a storybook of the same name mentioned in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final novel of the Harry Potter series.

An 800-word, untitled short story, unofficially known as the Harry Potter prequel, was written by J. K. Rowling in 2008 as part of a charity auction event, for which it fetched £25,000. It was published as part of What's Your Story Postcard Collection. The story recounts an encounter with Muggle police experienced by Sirius Black and James Potter, taking place before the events of the Harry Potter series. The manuscript was stolen in 2017, and has not been located as of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginny Weasley</span> Fictional character in J. K. Rowlings Harry Potter series

Ginevra Molly "Ginny" Weasley is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novel series. Ginny is introduced in the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, as the youngest sibling and only daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley. She becomes Harry's main love interest and eventually marries him at the end of the series. She is portrayed by Bonnie Wright in all eight Harry Potter films.

Neil Blair is an English literary agent, television producer, and film producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political views of J. K. Rowling</span>

British author J. K. Rowling, writer of Harry Potter and other Wizarding World works, has garnered attention for her support of the Labour Party under Gordon Brown and her criticism of the party under Jeremy Corbyn, as well as her opposition to the Republican Party under Donald Trump. She opposed Scottish independence in a 2014 referendum and Brexit during the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union.

Georgette Mulheir was the chief executive of Lumos, an international non-governmental organisation, founded in 2005 by J. K. Rowling to end the institutionalisation of orphaned children throughout the world, from 2011–2019. Her model of deinstitutionalisation, pioneered since 1993, has been followed in many countries across Eastern and central Europe.

Lumos may refer to:

<i>The Ickabog</i> 2020 fairy tale by J. K. Rowling

The Ickabog is a fairy tale by J. K. Rowling. The story was published in installments by Rowling online, before its official publication in November 2020. The Ickabog is Rowling's first children's book since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published in 2007. Upon release the book received generally positive critical reviews and emerged a bestseller.

References

  1. 1 2 Pugh 2020, p. 5.
  2. "Le dernier roman de J.K. Rowling publié pour satisfaire ses fans". Le Devoir (in French). 5 December 2008. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. Errington, Philip W. (26 February 2015). J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography 1997–2013 (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 416–417. ISBN   978-1-84966-977-1.
  4. Brown, David (15 July 2019). "JK Rowling charity boss exits amid concerns about its management". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 "CEO of charity founded by JK Rowling to step down after board finds 'culture challenges'". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  6. "Award: Zero Project Innovative Policy & Innovative Practice 2015". 19 January 2016.
  7. "Peter McDermott appointed as CEO of Lumos - News and Media - Lumos". www.wearelumos.org.
  8. "Charity founded by Harry Potter author appoints chief executive". www.thirdsector.co.uk.
  9. "Lumos Board of Trustees - Lumos". www.wearelumos.org.
  10. "Lumos Foundation USA Board - Lumos". www.wearelumos.org.

Works cited