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

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I loved the honest, conversational style achieved with ghost writer Ian Gittins. What impressed me most was that Jay Blades doesn’t spare himself from an intense, unforgiving spotlight that sometimes belies the jovial cheeky chap we know from his television programmes. There are passages in Making It that are violent, brutal and very frequently accompanied by surprising expletives that, far from alienating the reader, draw them in and have the effect of making them love, admire and respect Jay Blades all the more. He has made mistakes, some of them quite appalling, and yet he comes across as the kind of man you’d want in your life. Even though I know the author is now a successful celebrity, I frequently felt tense as I read, wondering how he was going to overcome the latest obstacle life was throwing his way. 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! Jay is a hugely popular presenter on craft TV show The Repair Shop, which has welcomed stars including King Charles and Dame Judi Dench. However, aside from being entertaining, interesting and engaging, I think Making It is an important book. Through his own, very personal experiences, Jay Blades gives permission for readers, especially men, to show and accept their vulnerability without embarrassment. He gives hope to all that, rather like the items that feature in the television programme The Repair Shop, for which he is most well known, there is always the possibility to create something new and beautiful from something – or someone – broken or damaged. I admit to being a trifle skeptical about the content, I suspect that an autobiography doesn't have to be quite as strict with the truth as a fully-cited biography does. However, I do think that that bones of this story are true and it's worth noting that Mr Blades pulls no punches when it comes to explicitly detailing what society might be inclined to call his "failings of character". I liked very much that he calls out what he sees as failings in others and himself, although I do feel he was a little lax in applying the same standards to himself that he'd like to see in others, most specifically his father comes in for a pretty heavy lambasting throughout the book for his absence, deservedly so, but Jay has essentially repeated the "crimes" he so vehemently decries and although he's somewhat salving the wounds with money, the outcomes of some of his children's life indicate that there's potentially some element of Jay's absenteeism that could explain where they're at. That said, as he states in the book, " You can't live your kids' lives for them", he's done what he can, with who he is and even if he contributed to some of the problems, at least he's still trying to do something about contributing to the solution as well.

Jay Blades - Wikipedia Jay Blades - Wikipedia

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. I admire him, on how he turned his life around, and how he helped young people to improve their lives. Blades lives in Ironbridge in Shropshire. [11] He has three children. His youngest, a daughter, is from his first marriage and he has two sons from previous relationships. Blades married his second wife Lisa Zbozen in Barbados in November 2022. [26] [6] [9] [27] [28] Honours [ edit ]Against the odds, though, he took these circumstances to grow and create change within the communities he worked and cared for.

Jay Blades announces his new book Life Lessons - Prima Jay Blades announces his new book Life Lessons - Prima

We had our hardships, and there were times that we didn't have a lot of food and didn't have a lot of money. But that didn't stop me having the time of my life. a b Harvey, Ian (12 June 2021). "MBE for Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades in Queen's Birthday Honours". Shropshire Star . Retrieved 13 June 2021. 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. 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. 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 ]

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.

Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me R…

Using a system developed for use in prisons by the Shannon Trust, Jay commits to learn to read with Read Easy, a charity whose volunteers do one-to-one coaching. Along the way, he revisits key moments in his life that were shaped by not being able to read: the ‘learner’ class at school, the dead-end jobs he had to take because he had no qualifications, and not being able to read his children bedtime stories. Daughter Zola is now 15, and Jay wants to read her a story before she reaches adulthood on her next birthday. We had our hardships, and there were times that we didn’t have a lot of food and didn’t have a lot of money. But that didn’t stop me having the time of my life.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.

Books — Jay Blades

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. Loved this book and learnt a lot about the man behind Jay Blades. Love him even more now knowing what he's gone through in his life. He should be very proud of what he has achieved in his life and the man that he has become.We had our hardships, and there were times that we didn’t have a lot of food and didn’t have a lot of money. But that didn’t stop me having the time of my life.'