Rejuvenating
the UK’s
forgotten
towns.
Across Britain, thousands of
people have been left behind.
All over the UK, millions of people live in small towns clustered around former industrial regions and coastal towns. In these forgotten towns lies a landscape of lost opportunity, entire communities that have been left behind, made redundant and their heyday lost to history.
These abandoned communities offer untapped potential, and with skills and education offer a valuable resource and way out of the spiral of decline. This underlying pool of talent needs an outlet and a new deal. The Christopher Nieper Foundation believes change can be brought about by private enterprise, 
and by employers and educators working together to create opportunity.
Our guiding principles.
The work of our Foundation follows three principles: to improve education, create opportunity, and strengthen the community. Together, they form our road map to rejuvenation; a blueprint that educators, government bodies, local businesses and communities can learn from and follow to ensure that no one is left behind.
Our initiatives
We’re enacting our principles and empowering people to do more, be more, and believe in a brighter future for their towns.
Education – the Christopher Nieper Education Trust
The next generation holds the key to Britain’s future and it’s our mission to give something back to its community by sponsoring education at every level. We want every parent to be confident that their children are getting the best start in life, one that will allow them to fulfil their potential and put them on a path to a brighter future.
A fusion of vocational with academic education brings multiple advantages in future life.
Employers and educators should be encouraged to work together to support learning and skills. Greater intervention by the private sector can help deliver a more relevant education and enhance employability of our young people.
Community – the Spirit of Alfreton
In 2020, as a reaction to the COVID 19 crisis the Foundation established The Spirit of Alfreton as an online community forum, designed to help local people stay in touch and support each during difficult times.
The Spirit of Alfreton, is a hyperlocal, digital media platform ‘for the community, by the community.’ It remains at the heart of the Foundation’s ambitions and goes from strength to strength, giving the community a voice, sharing news, and helping to restore local democracy in forgotten towns
Skills – textiles apprenticeships
The Foundation supports education at every level, and high-quality vocational training is vital in helping individuals reach and fulfil their ambitions.
Given our family heritage in fashion and textiles, we are champions of the British fashion industry and committed to nurturing specialist skills locally. As such, we support vocational training for the fashion industry at universities and colleges, and also through our own textile apprenticeships rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted at David Nieper Ltd.
I’ve worked in Alfreton all my life. Therefore, I’ve seen first-hand what happens when a town, and the people who call it home, are truly forgotten.
After years of witnessing wasted talent, increasing inequality, and lacklustre interventions, the time came to act. I set up the Foundation in the fervent hope that, through targeted initiatives and a particular focus on education, we might create opportunities, tackle the obstacles to ambition — and break the cycle of deprivation once and for all.
Christopher Nieper – OBE, Founder
