Making It cover art

Making It

How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life

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About this listen

Making It is a memoir about beating the odds and turning things around even when it all seems hopeless, by Jay Blades, known from the hit BBC One show The Repair Shop.

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.

In his book, Jay shares the details of his life, from his childhood growing up sheltered and innocent on a council estate in Hackney, to his adolescence when he was introduced to violent racism at secondary school, to being brutalized by police as a teen, to finally becoming the presenter of the hit primetime show The Repair Shop.

 Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Emotions Entertainment & Celebrities Personal Development Personal Success Inspiring Heartfelt Funny Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

Lynch dramatically conveys the diverse cultures, personalities, and accents of Blades's world, and recounts how he coped with dyslexia and learned to "upcycle"—repair items from a dump for resale—then taught homeless kids this marketable skill. Most memorable is Lynch's delivery of Blades's honesty, self-deprecating humor, and can-do motto: "If something's broken (including life), you can always find a way to put it together."
Moving and beguiling
All stars
Most relevant
A generously honest open and compassionate portrayal of Jay's journey so far on this mortal coil. God bless his lovely, kind, empathic heart. He is a breath of fresh air.

Beautiful.

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How could anyone not love this book...I would honestly recommend it to all audio book listeners. Jay has overcome such hardships and is so honest when telling of his struggles yet never seems resentful or self-indulgent.
What he has achieved is inspirational. Am so happy that some fateful event brought him to the attention of the nation, we are all richer for it.

Great book about a fantastic human being.....

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A contemporary memoir of Jay Blades that covers all aspects of young disadvantaged children, being dyslexic, black. Has suffered racial discrimination, what its like to be an adult student, a businessman, a dad, a celebrity, in a dark place and surviving .The effects of coronavirus and being talented.
Highly recommended to read or listen to. A great job by Damien Lynch the reader.

Making it covers everything

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This is a fantastic book about an extraordinary life. Jay tells it how it was for him growing up. A must read book!

Fantastic book.

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Absolutely loved this book and finished it within a day. Jay's story really resonated and such an easy listen. I couldn't put it down and was sorry when I got to the end. Narrated really well (clever choice) and had me laughing out loud one minute and reflecting the next. This book is up there as one of the best I've listened to this year!

Brilliant!

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