Children in Port Talbot have reimagined the future of their town through art and storytelling, transforming an underused space beneath the M4 motorway into colourful murals celebrating identity, belonging, and hope.

The Steeltown Storybook: Children’s Chapter Project brought together over 200 children aged 7–11 from local schools to share their ideas for the future of Port Talbot — a town experiencing industrial transition and major change.

Through workshops and podcasts, children explored what has shaped their community in the past and present before imagining its future. Their voices directly inspired new public murals, turning an overlooked space into a vibrant reflection of community pride and imagination.

The project was supported by HAPPEN-Wales, a pan-Wales research network led by Dr Michaela James at the Centre for Population Health, Swansea University. HAPPEN connects over 50,000 children and 650 schools to share experiences of health and wellbeing in schools and communities.

HAPPEN ensures children’s perspectives inform decision-making, particularly in areas that are often adult-led. Guided by Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the network provides evidence on what children say they need to be healthy, active, and happy.  Its research on children’s priorities for play and wellbeing shaped the participatory approach used in the Steeltown Storybook project.

The project was developed with Emily Adams, PhD Candidate and Senior Project Officer at Swansea University’s Local Challenges Research Office (LCRO).

After a year-long listening exercise across the Swansea Bay Region, LCRO identified a recurring theme — deindustrialisation. This intersected with Emily’s PhD research, which platforms voices from Neath Port Talbot, to understand social mobility histories and the ways in which industry was woven into the community’s fabric.

Knowing that historic aspirations were limited by local opportunity structures and being faced with discussions about skills interventions in the local community, it felt crucial to develop a project that would inject the voices and aspirations of young people into plans for the town’s future.

Dr Michaela James, HAPPEN-Wales Lead, said: “By involving children in this way, we are not just creating art — we are helping to build confidence, community connection, and a sense of ownership over their future spaces.”

Through this collaboration, HAPPEN helped ensure that the Steeltown Storybook placed children’s voices at its heart, using creativity to help young people express their hopes during a time of community transition.

She added:

“This project came at a time of huge change for the town, and it was important to give children a chance to reflect on what that means for them — their hopes, their fears, and their pride in where they come from. The creativity shown by these young people has been incredible; they have helped us see Port Talbot not just as a steel town, but as a place full of colour, identity, and possibility.”

Emily Adams said:

“This project highlights the importance of including the voices of young people in policy and research decisions. Workshops revealed a stunning breadth of aspiration and pride in place, with no shortage of creativity. Beyond offering a correction to current headlines that signal decline and hopelessness in the town, the insights shared by local children will create an archive for those who research Port Talbot in the future.”

Visiting the murals

The public can visit the murals in person or get a behind-the-scenes look at the work that inspired them during the Being Human Festival — Steeltown Schoolkids exhibition, running 7–15 November 2025 at The Art Space on Station Road.

Read more: Local children envision Port Talbot’s future in vivid new murals — Swansea University

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Impact Accelerator Account (IAA), the project brought together schools, local artists (THEW CREW), and community teams — including Raspberry Creatives, the Think Family Partnership, and Neath Port Talbot Council — to create a project reflecting the voices of everyone involved.

The team has recently secured further AHRC IAA funding to platform local children’s hopes for the future, including ideas for reducing pollution, brightening public spaces, and opening more youth clubs.