Brenda Edwards said she still talks to her son Jamal every day as she spoke of how comforting she has found the support she has received from his friends and people he helped.
The young entrepreneur found fame after setting up the music platform SBTV in 2006, and was credited with helping to launch a string of UK music acts to stardom, including Ed Sheeran, Dave and Jessie J.
He died on February 20 from a heart attack at the age of 31.
'Jamal's mantra was about self-belief.'
Brenda Edwards discusses how she is continuing her son's legacy with the Jamal Edwards self-belief trust.
The trust aims to help young people into work and combat homelessness. pic.twitter.com/VxRmGhDMMy
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 4, 2022
His 53-year-old mother revealed that the blue jewellery she was wearing while appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain was made for her by Sheeran’s mother in Jamal’s favourite colour.
The Loose Women panellist and singer also spoke about setting up a trust in her son’s name – The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust.
She told GMB presenters Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley: “He was this lovely, happy person that always wanted to connect this one to this one, without even thinking about himself most of the time… it was just about helping others.”
She also spoke about how she is managing to “make sense of” her son’s death, saying: “I’m managing to do it, because Jamal’s mantra was about self-belief, which is why I’ve named the trust (the) Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust.
“His thing was about giving young people the power to think about the dreams they want to believe and how to achieve them.”
Brenda Edwards tells @susannareid100 and @richardm56 about the comfort she felt when she heard from people whose lives were touched by what her son Jamal did.
She recalls how Jamal's SBTV channel started after she gave him a camera for Christmas when he was 15 years old. pic.twitter.com/fbQx8XmKTb
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) May 4, 2022
She later added: “I talk to him every morning and every night. I say ‘Hello, good morning, baby, good night, baby.’
“I just talk about anything. I do get a lot of strength in that and he inspired me a lot.
“Both of my children are very inspiring and I would always talk to them about the things I am doing with work, with Loose (Women) or anything that I’m doing – he was always a champion.
“He was the one that started up my social media, because he said I wasn’t doing enough…”
Edwards said Jamal had a will, due to him owning businesses, and told of his passion for helping others and how would spend Christmas every year helping at a homeless shelter.
The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust https://t.co/wUKD590Et6 Please RT thanks so much 💙
— Brenda Edwards (@brenda_edwards) March 30, 2022
She told GMB that Jamal is “with my mum and dad and my nan and grandad right now”.
“When we laid him to rest there was a ‘J’ above in the sky, and the other clouds were all moving but that ‘J’ never faltered. I believe that he’s with me. I do have faith, I am someone who believes in that.
“I’m not here to put that on everyone else, everyone deals with grief in their own way. That’s how I deal with it. And when Jamal was here, I would speak to Mum and Dad… It’s a beautiful thing out of something quite sad and negative.”
Jamal was also an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, a charity headed up by the Prince of Wales, and in 2014 was awarded an MBE for his services to music.