Jamal Edwards' mother Brenda hopes charity will continue his legacy

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Jamal Edwards presents an award at NCS YES Live at The Roundhouse on March 29, 2016 in London, EnglandImage source, Getty Images
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Jamal Edwards helped launch the careers of Dave, Ed Sheeran and Skepta

Brenda Edwards, the mother of the late music entrepreneur Jamal, has said she hopes a new trust will help keep his legacy alive.

Tributes poured in earlier this year from Prince Charles and Ed Sheeran after the YouTube star died aged 31.

Speaking publicly for the first time since his death, Brenda discussed the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust, which she has set up in his honour.

"Jamal was all about empowering young people," she told ITV's Loose Women.

"We want to set up an academy for 16-21 year olds, giving them an internship if you like, within an organisation over a period of a year, where they learn everything from the ground up. We are also looking to set up a homeless sanctuary."

Speaking of her son's legacy, Edwards explained: "[Jamal] said, 'We all die, the goal is not to live forever but to create something that will.'

"And I believe he has created something that will and I'm determined to make sure that it will. That's my goal."

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The TV presenter and singer, who is due to resume her role on the Loose Women panel from Tuesday, was speaking to her colleague Coleen Nolan during a pre-recorded interview.

Nolan praised her efforts in setting up the charity, saying she "sees Jamal" in his mother. "It's like Jamal talking, you've found his passion," she commented.

Jamal Edwards was the founder of SBTV, an online grime and rap music platform which helped launch the careers of artists like Dave, Sheeran and Skepta.

He got into film-making after his parents gave him a video camera as a Christmas present when he was 15.

Brenda Edwards explained that she and her daughter had been with him with he died at home in February, describing it as "a vision that I'm never going to forget".

"It was sudden and it was unexpected and he went into cardiac arrest," she explained. "Then he passed with me holding his hand, so I get a little bit of comfort from knowing I was with him."

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Brenda Edwards, pictured earlier this month, will return to the Loose Women panel this week

"He always had this lovely, bright smile, just used to light up," she continued. "He had this funny laugh. I feel his presence constantly and I know I've always been somebody who has faith and who believes in that and that has been a massive comfort to me."

His funeral, she said, had been a "really beautiful" occasion, noting how on the day "the clouds had formed a J" in the sky.

She thanked everyone connected to the ITV show for their support ahead of her return later this week.

Brenda first announced details of the Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust in a post on Instagram last month.

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