A STUNNING piece of artwork has been created to reflect the diversity and heritage of the West Bowling community.

It stands in St Stephen’s Church, Newton Street, and was made by hundreds of people from the area and congregation, in partnership with local artists and Thornton Road-based Bradford Woodworkers.

It has been two years in the making and features textile, mosaic and stained glass.

Vicar Jimmy Hinton said: “We do lots of work with our community and with different sections, age groups, ethnicities and faiths.

“We have been wanting to pick up on some of the heritage we have in the community.

“It has been built by lots of people, different groups - hundreds of people have contributed to it.”

At the centre of ‘The Mustard Tree’ artwork stands a tree framework, created by Bradford Woodworkers, which is adorned with different birds to represent the variety of the community.

Rev Hinton said: “It’s all held together by a story in the bible of a mustard seed growing into a tree and the birds finding solace in its branches.”

The piece will stand tall in the church as a permanent fixture, in a space formerly occupied by the organ.

The driving force behind the artwork was reflecting the importance of West Bowling’s textile heritage and it was mainly funded through the Anchor Foundation, which supports Christian charities with a focus on social inclusion through the arts.

“It’s fantastic,” Rev Hinton said. “It’s opening a part of the church which had not been in much use.

“People come and they see the bits they have contributed.

“It’s a pretty unifying and special piece of art which will be there for years.

“It really gives people a boost, because they have been a part of it.”

He added: “People have done it together and built friendships, built community, often with people from different backgrounds.

“The piece does pick up on diversity and unity, pulled together by the tree. It’s helping people to see ‘I have a share in that story’.”

The mosaic element of the piece was led by artist Shaeron Caton-Rose, with people visiting the church to take part.

Rev Hinton’s wife Sarah, manager of the Shine community project, based at the church, said: “For some people, doing a mosaic was a very healing process, of thinking about their own lives and putting their lives back together.”

The textile aspect of The Mustard Tree was led by Ros Owens and involved a group called Creative Threads, which meets at the church, as well as pupils from the nearby St Stephen’s C of E Primary School and refugees.

This aspect of the piece involved dying cloth in a nod to the importance of the dyeworks which once stood in West Bowling.

Artist Linda Baines created the large stained glass elements of the piece.

Mrs Hinton said: “The sense of the pride in it is just wonderful. It’s a community thing - we want it to be there for a very long time.”

She added that the piece went up in time for a wedding of Shine’s Luke Owens, who was involved in the artwork.

The church has said anybody who would like to see The Mustard Tree is welcome to visit.

Last week, the National Churches Trust announced it had awarded St Stephen’s Church with a £34,000 funding boost.

The money will help fund urgent repairs to the roofs and masonry, as well as underground drainage.

This marks the next phase of restoration of the church and repairs will begin in September and last for six months.