Hundreds of mourners are expected to attend the funeral of a gospel-singer who helped found the New Testament Church in Bradford.

Tributes were today paid to great-grandmother Naomi Lewinson, of Toller Grove, Heaton, who has died at the age of 65.

Her daughter Pearl Huggins said: "She was a very powerful and strong woman, very caring and understanding, and a pillar of the community.

"We are expecting coachloads at her funeral, so many that we have had to inform the police because of the crowds.

"We have friends and family coming from Jamaica, America, Canada, and Indonesia to pay their respects."

The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David Smith will be among those at Mrs Lewinson's funeral - a mark of the impact she has made on the life of Bradford.

The service will take place at the New Testament Church in Necropolis Road, Lidget Green on Friday.

Mrs Lewinson was well known for her work with young people and as a mentor in schools, as well as for her gospel singing, and performed last year outside City Hall as part of Bradford's Windrush festival.

Jamaican-born Mrs Lewinson was a promising gospel singer when she arrived in Britain in 1954. She settled in Birmingham initially before moving to Bradford in the late 1960s.

With her husband Shem she founded the New Testament Church which was originally in a building known as the 'Tin Chapel' at Ingleby Road, near what is now Morrisons supermarket.

The church community went from strength to strength and now has 100 members which meet at the new premises in Necropolis Road.

Mrs Lewinson trained as a nurse at St Luke's and later worked at the former Westwood Hospital.

She mentored young people at Nab Wood Grammar School, worked on the Black Against Crack drugs project, sang with the Bradford Community Choir and also found time to run a shop - Naomi's Fashion Corner - in Westgate.

She was a founder member of the Bradford Afro Caribbean Business Association.

She is survived by her husband, their six children, 11 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

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