SHE was a British Sixties songbird who became one of the world’s youngest pop stars.

At the tender age of 14 Helen Shapiro soared to international stardom with hit singles like Walking Back to Happiness , Tell Me What He Said, Don’t Treat Me Like a Child and You Don’t Know.

Now that golden voice is being used to spread the word of the gospel.

In August 1987 Helen became a committed believer in Jesus and her Gospel Outreach has taken her around the world.

She will be at Southampton’s Central Hall next Saturday to host a Gospel Outreach with New Community, starting at 7.30pm.

It was about 20 years ago that Helen held the first of many gospel evenings to coincide with the release of her first gospel album, The Pearl. Along with her second gospel album Kadosh it proved to be a very big seller.

At the Gospel Outreaches Helen presents her challenging story. She begins singing a selection of worship songs for about 20 minutes with live accompaniment.

She then tells how she came to faith in Jesus. This testimony is interspersed with songs, including Walking Back to Happiness.

In 1993 Helen’s autobiography entitled Walking Back to Happiness was published by Harper Collins and Helen has held outreaches in the USA, South Africa and Russia.

Her 1995 gospel album entitled Nothing But the Best includes a duet with Cliff Richard and her fourth gospel album called Enter Into His Gates was also a big seller.

Most of the tracks from all four gospel albums have now been put on a double CD, The Gospel Collection.

Helen, who is also a highly respected jazz singer, devotes herself solely to her gospel outreaches. In 2002 she brought the curtain down on her showbiz career after 42 years of touring.