In January 2024 Lydia was appointed the editor of Disability Review Magazine, the largest disability specific title in the UK. With previous editing experience at EachOther and as newsletter editor for AccessAble, the largest provider of accessibility information in the disability space in the UK, her role includes commissioning from an in-house team of 3 writers, proofing, organisation of photography and relevant captions, as well as overseeing the social media content for the magazine.
From her own experience, Lydia wanted to bring a more nuanced point of view to the disability space. As a recipient of the Journalism Diversity Fund (JDF) which enabled her to obtain an NCTJ qualification, diversity in the industry is one of her core values. Disability has a more colourful reality that should be celebrated, compared to what is typically represented. If people see themselves in what you produce, it makes for a more engaging, sustainable product. Disabled individuals are not just an inspiration or a tragedy, which is what can typically be found in multiple media forms – they are allowed to be human, too.
Lydia brought on board a recipe writer, Ian Taverner, who is also known as ‘Mr Cookfulness’; she also appointed journalist Carole Edrich as a columnist for the magazine.
The internal content also had a revamp, such as with new features ‘A day in the life of…’, spotlights for disabled business owners and brands like NeoWalk and Human Beauty, and in depth interviews with household names for cover stars. Each issue now has a theme to it, with content aligned to match the outside cover. This has included travel, as well as the theme of ‘celebration’ for International Person’s With Disabilities Day in 2024.
You can read the issues Lydia has edited here:
- Spring 2024 – Miriam Margolyes.. The Grand Dame As You’ve Never Seen Her
- Summer 2024 – Sophie Morgan on Rights On Flights & Why The Travel Industry Needs To Change
- Winter 2024 – Ruth Madeley: “Disability Isn’t A Dirty Word!”
- Spring 2025 – Hester Grainger – “It’s just who you are!”
- Summer 2025 – Ade Adepitan – On Resilience, Role Models & His New TV Show
- Winter 2025 – Isaac Harvey MBE – “Accept first, ask questions later.”