What our team have been up to so far!

The Pathways to the Past team in Neath Port Talbot has quickly become a visible and valued presence in the community, creating pathways to participation and volunteering through heritage and culture as powerful tools for engagement. By connecting with volunteers, local groups, and heritage organisations, the team is helping ensure that local history is preserved, celebrated, and made accessible to more people.

Janet and Laura are building strong local relationships every day. Through outreach, partnership-building, and hands-on support, they are engaging new volunteers, strengthening community networks, and supporting people to explore their connection to place and identity.

Central to this work is Tempo’s Cynefin toolkit, which supports communities to explore their sense of belonging, local heritage, and shared stories. Alongside this, the team is using living heritage approaches — valuing people’s experiences, memories, and cultural knowledge — to widen participation and ensure more voices are represented in how heritage is understood and shared.

Their work reflects Tempo’s place-based approach: listening first, working alongside local people and organisations, and supporting communities to shape and share their own heritage stories.

Below are snapshots from their journey so far as they continue to grow Pathways to the Past across Neath Port Talbot.