My day on a bus with BBC 5 Live

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Jul 09, 2025

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A couple of weeks ago I received an email out of nowhere from a BBC 5 Live producer wanting to talk to me about a programme she was doing with Naga Munchetty.

Now the day before I had been trying to get in touch with the team because they were talking about barriers to women participating in sport and Lily and I thought it would be good chance to talk about our Ultra Women book.

But it turns out it was nothing to do with that. It was one of those once in a blue moon emails offering a work opportunity too good to miss.

Naga was doing a programme in Sheffield (where I live) on health inequalities, specifically women’s health. It was a bit of an unusual broadcast because they would be travelling across the city on a bus to highlight the difference in life expectancy from one side to the other.

When I called the producer - which I did immediately, I’m not playing it cool here - she explained they had been working on the programme for weeks and they would have guests along the way talking about the issues or the work they were doing but what they really needed was a reporter who could chat to Naga about Sheffield and the issues being covered throughout the journey.

It seemed that all the stars had aligned in a very unique way because my goal this year was to report on health inequalities in a more meaningful way - I’d even organised a conference of medical journalists earlier in the year to discuss this. Here, all of a sudden, was an opportunity to do just this on a large platform in the city I lived and knew a huge amount about.

Of course I said yes and a week later I was sat on the bus explaining how the life expectancy and health of the population changed as you travel on number 83 from the most affluent part to the poorest part of Sheffield. You can listen to the programme here.

This picture of inequality is mirrored in towns and cities across the country but the unique thing about Sheffield is you can almost draw a line down half the city, the divide is so stark.

The reason I’m sharing this experience with you is because on reflection I have various tips to share from a freelance perspective for anyone else looking to make the most of random opportunities that may come their way. So here’s my key takeaways from the day.

1. An online presence is vital

Lily and I talk about this all the time but when it comes to making a success of freelance journalism, you are the brand. I asked the producer how she’d found me and she had simply Googled “health reporter Sheffield”. I came up immediately and she could see from my portfolio and bio I had done a lot of reporting on inequalities. She’d also noted I was a BBC News online reporter at one point. There is literally no one else who ticks all these boxes but they had no idea I existed before doing a basic internet search. I have my own website, Authory portfolio, fully filled out LinkedIn and social media. I can be found and contacted very easily.

2. Be available

When the producer emailed I responded straight away and showed willing. I was responsive on both email and phone over the conversations which followed which is key for a production team trying to juggle a huge project. I’m sure they would have quickly moved on to someone else had I not got back to them in a timely fashion. They had another BBC reporter who could maybe do it but his diary was looking a bit chaotic. I have been incredibly busy in recent weeks but there was no way I was letting this chance slip by. As soon as I said I was in they were really pleased to have found someone with the right experience who could commit.

3. Be flexible

I was already due to work a shift for someone else on the day they needed me. Luckily I just moved a few things around and no one minded. To be honest I would have just cancelled the shift and taken the hit because this was a one-off opportunity that was not going to appear again. But you’d be surprised how accommodating people can be when you explain.

4. Ask questions

I was late to this project and I needed to fully understand what it was the team needed from me so I could make sure I had all the information to hand. But also I needed to understand the logistics and timing of the day. Although I have done some radio, I’ve never done it while travelling on a bus across a city before. They were happy to answer everything, sent me links and questions that I needed as well as organising a taxi at the end to get me back where I needed to be.

If you don’t understand something or need more detail about a project, it’s really important to ask. The producer offered the rate of £200 so I didn’t have to bring up payment but I would of course have asked about that as well. I also took up an offer to go meet the team at their hotel the evening before. It was a chaotic childcare evening (Monday night we have three kids doing three sports in three different directions) but we made it work and actually that helped me understand their reasons for doing the programme and allowed us to get to know each other a little before the stress of the next day.

5. Get ready

I can talk about health inequalities in my sleep - I’ve been reporting on this for two decades - but the programme was based on a report from 2013 so I had to read that and then look for details on how this had changed. I also spoke to a couple of GP friends who work in some of the most deprived areas of Sheffield to get their views on the issues they see facing their patients. But actually the most useful thing I did was make sure I understood where the bus route went and find out some facts, figures or things of interest about those areas. In the end we had so many experts on the bus I became more of a Sheffield tour guide but I was ready for this eventuality.

6. Take a deep breath

Of course it was incredibly nerve-wracking and completely different to anything else I’d done but I knew it would be worth it. Once I got to the golf club we were leaving from I could also tell that other guests who were taking part were nervous. I just told myself you know this stuff inside out so just be yourself. Watching Naga at work was equally inspiring. She was incredibly professional and across her brief. Watching her orchestrate this programme as we travelled across the city (with no technical problems I might add), chatting effortlessly to news presenters and sports commentators during the links really did renew my respect for broadcast presenters. She made it look so easy but it absolutely is not! The programme got lots of positive feedback and they did an amazing job of showcasing a range of voices. It is just more proof of my general belief that the scary things are the things most worth doing.

Come and share a time where you had a dream work project come to you out of the blue? How did people find you? Would you have done anything differently?

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