Drew Hyndman

Since joining the BBC through the Extend scheme, Drew has been championing disabled and neurodivergent people both in his work and inside the organisation.

In his work across podcasts, radio and online he has frequently centred the stories of disabled people including an online feature about streamer SweetAnita and producing the latest series of the 1800 Seconds on Autism podcast with episodes featuring Chris Packham and Holly Smale. This series of the podcast was the first time a BBC programme had been made by an all autistic team of producer and presenters.

As producer of Money Box Live he produced two episodes focussed on the personal finance issues facing disabled people and, for the first time, an episode co-presented by blind journalist and presenter Emma Tracey.

As a member of the BBC’s Next Generation Committee, presenting proposals to the Executive Committee, he and his team proposed changes to improve support for disabled staff at the BBC and help the organisation meet its 12% target. Many of these changes have since been taken on, including making accessing existing support easier and tailoring support to different needs. He and the team continue to push for their implementation.

He keeps flying the flag for disabled and neurodivergent representation across the BBC and journalism as a whole: Speaking to podcasts about being an autistic and ADHD journalist, supporting neurodivergent colleagues at work, and providing feedback and support to other colleagues to ensure news output is telling authentic disabled stories.