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Jay Blades
Jason Blades (born 21 February 1970) is an English furniture restorer and television presenter.
Blades was born in Brent, North-West London and raised in Hackney, East London with his mother and maternal half-brother. As an adult, he learned that his father had 25 other children, from different mothers, in a number of countries. He has dyslexia, which was not diagnosed at school. He says that he experienced racism at school and from the police. 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".
As a young man, he worked as a labourer and in factories. He later enrolled at Buckinghamshire New University as a mature student to study criminology. It was only then, aged 31, that he was diagnosed with the reading ability of an 11-year old.
During the early 2010s, roughly between 2012 and 2013, Blades was involved in the running of a children's club known as "Men Behaving Dadly", a weekend playgroup aimed at young children and their fathers. It took place at Bedfont and Chiswick children's centres.
Blades and his then wife, Jade, set up a charity based in High Wycombe, Out of the Dark, to train disadvantaged young people in furniture restoration. The charity lost funding, their marriage broke down, and he became homeless. He was supported by friends and by the Caribbean community. Around the same time, television producers saw a short film about the charity which led to his work as a presenter. He moved to Wolverhampton and established Jay & Co, a social enterprise to support disadvantaged and disengaged groups.
In 2021, Blades became trustee of a charity founded by singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, The Black Fund. They had met years previously when Blades ran a youth club and choir which Pinnock, then 14 years old, joined.
He also released a memoir in that year, entitled Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life, published by Pan Macmillan UK.
Blades was appointed co-chair of the Heritage Crafts Association in August 2022.
Jay Blades
Jason Blades (born 21 February 1970) is an English furniture restorer and television presenter.
Blades was born in Brent, North-West London and raised in Hackney, East London with his mother and maternal half-brother. As an adult, he learned that his father had 25 other children, from different mothers, in a number of countries. He has dyslexia, which was not diagnosed at school. He says that he experienced racism at school and from the police. 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".
As a young man, he worked as a labourer and in factories. He later enrolled at Buckinghamshire New University as a mature student to study criminology. It was only then, aged 31, that he was diagnosed with the reading ability of an 11-year old.
During the early 2010s, roughly between 2012 and 2013, Blades was involved in the running of a children's club known as "Men Behaving Dadly", a weekend playgroup aimed at young children and their fathers. It took place at Bedfont and Chiswick children's centres.
Blades and his then wife, Jade, set up a charity based in High Wycombe, Out of the Dark, to train disadvantaged young people in furniture restoration. The charity lost funding, their marriage broke down, and he became homeless. He was supported by friends and by the Caribbean community. Around the same time, television producers saw a short film about the charity which led to his work as a presenter. He moved to Wolverhampton and established Jay & Co, a social enterprise to support disadvantaged and disengaged groups.
In 2021, Blades became trustee of a charity founded by singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, The Black Fund. They had met years previously when Blades ran a youth club and choir which Pinnock, then 14 years old, joined.
He also released a memoir in that year, entitled Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life, published by Pan Macmillan UK.
Blades was appointed co-chair of the Heritage Crafts Association in August 2022.
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