Youth news agency charity Children’s Express, is to relaunch as Headliners at the end of this month.

It marks the start of an ambitious three-year expansion programme, partly-funded by a £900,000 Big Lottery grant, which will boost existing activities and establish Headliners in new areas including the North West, West Midlands and the South-East.

The name change came about after a six-month consultation period with many of the hundreds of young people that the charity works with.

Headliners director Fiona Wyton said: "We work with a wide range of young people, some who felt uncomfortable with the term children.

"We also wanted to move away from sounding like a print-based organisation as we have moved into creating much more audio/video and new media output."

In 2006, Children’s Express sent two reporters to Kenya to report on how young people were involved in fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic in that country.

Their report was shown on both BBC News 24 and Sky News, and they were interviewed on ITV News and BBC News 24.

Other highlights last year included appearances on Radio 4's You and Yours, on BBC World Service as part of the Generation Next season, as well as published articles in a number of newspapers including the Guardian and New Internationalist magazine.

In February 2006 Children’s Express started producing three columns each week for the Reach for the Sky website, part of an ongoing partnership with Sky that has seen the satellite broadcaster provide mentoring and training for Children’s Express members.

Rt Hon Peter Hain MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Wales, will be the guest speaker at a relaunch event, which will showcase some of the successful work from the previous 12 years, as well as look to the future.

The event will also be the official launch of the new website, www.headliners.org, which holds an archive of nearly 1,000 stories.

The multimedia website also contains copies of recent television and radio work that Children’s Express members have been involved in, including reports shown on BBC News 24, Sky News and Channel Five news.