Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life

Product Information

Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life (Bluebird Books, 2021) ISBN 9781529059199 Written in a completely unpretentious way, Jay's honesty shines through even to the point of referring to using a ghost writer (who has done an excellent job) - what would you expect for someone with significant dyslexia? It's not a long read, it lasted me a day however it is fairly unputdownable. The fabric of Jay's life apparently constitutes a weft of ebullient happiness anchored down by the warp of failure and depression. There are success stories and moments of barrel-bottom-scraping, and it's all told in the most genial and friendly of tones, using a very matter-of-fact London vernacular - so watch out, because there's a lot of unexpected cursing! The Jay of The Repair Shop is a screen persona that hides the street-friendly real-life Jay! Against the odds, though, he took these circumstances to grow and create change within the communities he worked and cared for. Murphy, Nichola (26 September 2022). "The Repair Shop's Jay Blades 'wasn't ready' to be a father". HELLO!.

Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 review - The Guardian Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 review - The Guardian

Blades and his wife Jade set up a charity based in High Wycombe, Out of the Dark, to train disadvantaged young people in furniture restoration. [6] The charity lost funding, their marriage broke down, and he became homeless. [6] He was supported by friends and by the Caribbean community. [6] Around the same time, television producers saw a short film about the charity which led to his work as a presenter. [6] He moved to Wolverhampton and established Jay & Co, a social enterprise to support disadvantaged and disengaged groups. [11] In June 2023, Blades presented Jay Blades' East End Through Time; a three-part documentary series shown on Channel 5, [24] which was followed by The Midlands Through Time in October. [25] Personal life [ edit ] In September 2022 Blades appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs and said that his childhood had been "blighted by racism and violence". [18] [19] In October 2022 Blades was the lead presenter for the edition of The Repair Shop which featured King Charles III. [20] [21] His life was full of challenges, and from an early age, he learned what a being person of colour truly means in a world created to give advantage and favour white people. Youngs, Ian (1 April 2020). "From repairing lives to hosting The Repair Shop". BBC News . Retrieved 29 June 2020.a b c d e f g h i j k l Saner, Emine (7 September 2020). " 'I spent a long time being this macho man': Jay Blades on love, loss and the liberating power of tears". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 December 2020. It would seem from the book that he has done some amazing work with boys on whom most people have given up, helping them to acquire skills and crafts that should enable them to earn a living and avoid a life of crime.

Books — Jay Blades

Making It is an inspirational memoir about beating the odds and turning things around even when it all seems hopeless, by Jay Blades, the beloved star of hit BBC One show The Repair Shop. Good morning all, I'm 50 today and I wanted to post this photo with my head down, (don't worry I'm not sad) I'm doing this as a mark of respect to EVERYONE, that got me here. 🙏🏽 Thank You. 😊 He learned the hard way that as human beings, men are also allowed to feel emotions and deserve to be in tune with their feelings and display them.Although some of the aspects covered in Making It like the author’s dyslexia, have been alluded to, or even well documented, in recent times, Making It is a wonderful, detailed insight into the life and personality of Jay Blades. This is a brilliant book! I’ve been a fan of Jay’s for years as an avid viewer of The Repair Shop, but I didn’t really know anything at all about the Jay underneath the flat cap! Jones, Emma (19 April 2020). "Jay Blades' degree in criminology led him on path to star in The Repair Shop". Daily Mirror . Retrieved 11 September 2020.

Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped - WHSmith

He appears to be highly thought of in the UK (he has been awarded an MBE) yet his book highlights a propensity to begin things with great enthusiasm, only to move on to something else some time later. This is true of his schemes to help disadvantaged youth, of which three are described in detail (Mr. Blades is now only involved in the third one, but more distantly as his TV work increases and takes up more of his time). It also applies to his relationships, yet he expresses no regrets or remorse for successive failures and break-ups. Jay always has such a kind, sympathetic and insightful manner when talking to people on TV, when I saw his autobiography I didn’t hesitate in buying it. I wasn’t disappointed and could hardly put it down. Jay Blades has announced his latest project – a new book sharing his lessons from the ups and downs of life. All in all, I think you get a very interesting insight into the actual human that is Jay Blades, not the TV persona, not a public persona, the real deal. I think it's a little light on self-recrimination, but, as someone said, " Everyone is necessarily the hero of [their] own life story." and I do think that the book indicates that he's trying to live by the credo that he closes the book out with: " all you can do is be good".a b "The Repair Shop's Jay Blades reveals incredible story discovering he has 25 siblings". MSN. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020 . Retrieved 12 July 2020. He’s not alone in facing this issue. Research findings suggest that a quarter of all children in England leave primary school, like Blades, unable to read to the expected level. More than eight million adults in the UK have poor literacy skills, and half of all prisoners either can’t read or struggle to do so.

Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair

The book covers the period from Blades' birth (in 1970) right through to the publishing date in 2021 (thus just missing his MBE). It ranges through an estate-bound but happy childhood and his initial run-in with racism when he enters secondary schooling, on to a troubled and violent adolescence that acts as a prelude to a most remarkable emotional rollercoaster of a life. It's not a long book, but I still zipped through it pretty fast because the chapters kept ending in cliffhangers (i was still reading at 01:30, 02:00 on consecutive nights)! Blades, Jay (27 July 2021). Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life. Pan Macmillan UK. ISBN 9781760987633.

BBC Radio 5 Live's Word Matters

I am a big fan of The Repair Shop, and when I stumbled upon this book, I was eager to give it a read. I did not know that much about his upbringing other than watching the Jay Blades: No Place Like Home documentary show. Even though he had a fairly violent past, Jay comes across as a genuinely kind person, that really wants to help others. PLOT: Blades’ memoir of his early life, education, stumbles, and career choices take us on his journey from innocence to awareness, racism, privilege, relationships to emerging as a transformative figure through his hard work, passion, and ability to talk to people but most importantly to listen to people, becoming an example that real change can happen to ordinary people. THOUGHTS: Read this book slowly. Take the time to truly assimilate the personal journey of the phenomenal flawed human being who presents and carries the TV sensation" The Repair Shop" on his shoulder. I have a major question, however, viz. how, given that undiagnosed dyslexia had left him more or less unable to read or write, he was accepted into university to study Philosophy and Criminology. Surely he should have acquired adequate reading skills first?