The mother of a 14-year-old girl found hanged in her family home has founded a charity to support struggling teenagers.

Trisha Muirhead-Hewitt said she hoped the Ashdon Jazz Academy, which will provide mentors for young girls, would be her daughter Ashdon's "legacy".

The Thornton Heath teenager, a pupil at Norbury Manor Business and Enterprise College, was found dead by her mother in the garage of their Mersham Road house on November 15 last year.

In a heartbreaking final message to her mother, she wrote: "I love you, I miss you, you have the best life ever".

NOVEMBER 2014: 'I'll miss you all': Final words of 'bullied' teenager Ashdon Muirhead found dead in home

JUNE 2015: 'I love you, I miss you': Thornton Heath girl, 14, hung herself after leaving final message to mum

Mrs Muirhead-Hewitt, 43, hopes the charity will bring something positive from the death of her daughter, who would have turned 15 today.

She said: "I felt like maybe if Ashdon had had a bit more mentoring or a neutral person to talk to she maybe have been able to cope. As teenagers they don't tell their parents everything, although she did tell me lots.

"Girls in her school had very strong personalities. They were falling out, falling in, falling out. I think that was one of the concerns she had.

"Sometimes it may appear that words doesn't affect them and that it's just innocent banter, but it can be quite hard for young people to take on board."

She added: "It has been very difficult but at the same time I realise I can't let Ashdon's death not have any lessons learned from it.

"It has been very, very painful but I have had to work alongside it and still get on with what I need to do.

"I'm still grieving and still find it very hard at times. It is her birthday on Wednesday so it's difficult for me this week, but she was such a vibrant young girl, very vibrant, very charismatic.

"You can't not allow her legacy to live on because that's what we would have wanted."

The charity, named after the nickname by which friends and family knew Ashdon, has already enlisted 10 mentors, including mothers, foster carers and youth workers.

Starting this month, they will hold weekly one-to-one sessions with girls in Croydon, Merton and Lambeth.

Mrs Muirhead-Hewitt, an early years manager at a Merton primary school, said: "It is aimed at girls who need just a bit of nurturing, who may have gone through family breakdown, may just have a little bit of low self-esteem or confidence.

"It is trying to get those girls who are just on the edge and with a little bit of support can come back round again."

Ashdon's mother also hopes the charity will raise awareness among parents of the pressures on young girls.

She said: "We need to raise our game and realise what is going on with our young people out there and what they are facing.

"I have spoken to a lot of young people as a result of this and it is amazing some of the things they are having to deal with.

"My role really is to raise awareness for adults to talk a bit more to their children and make sure this doesn't happen to another family.

The charity, funded entirely by donations, will officially launch on Saturday at Pollards Hill Youth Club in Mitcham, where Ashdon often spent time.

The event will feature a fashion show, dance and music and will run from 6pm to 10pm.

The Ashdon Jazz Academy has a fundraising page through which donations can be made online.