LUMOS: New name new focus

25 FEBRUARY 2010 New name new focus Charity co-founded by J K Rowling reveals spellbinding new identity The Children’s High Level Group today unveils its new name and a new brand with a rallying call to put an end to the systematic institutionalisation of disadvantaged children across Central and Eastern Europe. The charity today re-launches as Lumos - named after the spell in J K Rowling's global sensation Harry Potter. In the books, Lumos causes a small beam of light to emit from the spell-caster's wand. With the change of name to Lumos comes a shift in focus: Lumos will no longer work in Romania – this work will be continued by the Asociatia Children’s High Level Group, whose Chair is Baroness Emma Nicholson. Lumos, chaired by J K Rowling, will continue its work in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Moldova, as well as expanding into other countries. J K Rowling says, "Twenty years ago, as Communist regimes across Europe toppled, harrowing images of Europe's hidden children began to emerge. Thousands upon thousands of children were living in vast, depressing institutions – malnourished and often maltreated, with little access to the outside world. Slowly governments have begun to transform care systems. Real and lasting change takes time, but today we are putting down a marker and calling for significantly more progress in the next twenty years to ensure that eventually no children are living in, or at risk of entering, such institutions." Dr Richard Alderslade, Chief Executive of Lumos, says: "While pockets of really good progress have been made since 1990, the scale of the challenge remains almost unimaginable. There are still more than 1 million children and young people living in institutions, not just in a handful of countries, but in most countries across Central and Eastern Europe. This means that we have to be realistic in our approach. Working with governments at a strategic level - to create country-wide reforms, not just one-off closures of particular institutions - takes time. It is not only a question of closing down the institutions, but also implementing new systems and creating alternative care settings as well as the not so insignificant task of changing mindsets." Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of these children are not orphans, but are disabled, from ethnic minorities or poor backgrounds. Institutionalisation damages children’s health and development and reduces their chances in life. Lumos is currently working on major reform programmes in the Czech Republic and Moldova. The charity has been assisting the Czech government to develop a National Action Plan for the reform of all its services for vulnerable children and families. It is now working in the county of Pardubice, helping the local authorities to transform all of their large residential institutions for children. In Moldova, the charity is supporting the government and local authorities to implement large-scale de-institutionalisation programmes as well as an initiative aimed at significantly reducing infant mortality. Lumos has also been providing advice and support to the European Commission in Brussels on the best way to use funding for reforming the child social protection system in Bulgaria. We are now setting up a major programme in the country to help accelerate and improve the process of de-institutionalisation.

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