Loose Women star opens community hub in son’s name four years after his death

Brenda Edwards has said it is “quite scary” to think about the fact it has been four years since her son Jamal Edwards died, and described opening a community hub in his honour as an “amazing feeling”.

The Jamal Edwards Self Belief Trust opened a Self Belief Creative Community Hub in west London on Friday, marking the anniversary of the death of DJ and music entrepreneur Jamal on February 20 2022 at the age of 31.

The charity was created by Loose Women panellist Edwards and her daughter Tanisha Artman shortly after Jamal’s death, and aims to “help young people and bring everybody together as a community” and “carry on his legacy”.

Speaking to the Press Association, Edwards said that her work with the trust has been “absolutely pivotal”, and called it the “driving force” in helping her manage her grief.

She said: “The fact that I know that I’m trying to carry on his legacy to help young people is an amazing feeling.”

Edwards added: “I’m literally transforming what he was doing and what he wanted me to address, which was helping young people and bringing everybody together as a community.”

Speaking about her son’s death, she said: “It’s really quite scary to think that it’s four years this Friday.

“There’s not a day that I obviously don’t speak to him in my mind. I really feel his presence and that that really helps me.

“It’s really hard every day. But I know he is watching saying: ‘Come on, mummy, come on.'”

Jamal gained 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 Dave, Jessie J and Ed Sheeran.

He 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.

Brenda described her son as “very selfless” and said he was “always thinking of others”, adding: “I think he got such a great joy out of that, and it’s taught me a lot as well.”

The Self Belief Community Hub is a space “dedicated to empowering young people”, giving them a space where they can “build their futures”, according to the trust.

The trust said the hub will host a programme of events focused on creativity, wellbeing, life skills and employability, and has facilities including music and podcast studios, co-working spaces and a subsidised kitchen with daily meals.

Brenda told PA it is about bringing the community together and offering support, and said that Jamal came up with the idea “the year before he became forever 31”.

She said: “Everything that I’m doing is based on his letter of wishes that he left for me with his will.”

Brenda called the letter a “guiding force” for her, adding: “In the letter, he said that he wanted young people to be at the forefront of everything that I do.

“His whole mantra was self belief. That legacy will always remain, and people will always be speaking about him and know of him as somebody that wanted to bring communities together.”

The hub is located on the housing estate in Acton where Jamal grew up, which Brenda said makes her feel “so close” to him.

She called it “totally full circle”, and added: “It was really weird. It’s a major feeling.

“Bittersweet, because I know he would have wanted to see this in fruition, but I get the strength from the fact that I know that he’s there and he’s watching.”

Further information about the Self Belief Creative Community Hub can be found on the charity’s website at www.jesb.co.uk.