The centre run by the town's youths and has received many accolades and is offering young people all sorts of opportunities.

Reporter Laura Hammond met up with founder Andrea Fox to find out more about what is on offer at the club.

A GIANT wall covered with luminous graffiti, a snack bar well stocked with sweets and drinks and an indoor skating ramp leaves visitors in no doubt as to who is in charge at the Drop Inn.

The centre, which is set to celebrate its tenth anniversary next month, is very much run by young people for young people.

A team of three manages the centre full time, but otherwise it is governed entirely by the teenagers who use the club as a base several times a week.

Drop Inn founder Andrea Fox said: "They set their own rules ten years ago and that became policy. We are more facilitators than anything else really. There are obviously legal things we have to be involved in but it's their centre."

Sheer frustration convinced Andrea to set up the centre in 1999, after she became sick of youngsters the same age as her son being branded as bad news in the town.

She said: "There were regular reports in the papers about young people taking drugs and causing trouble in Belper and I was sick of people of my son's age being labelled like that."

So Andrea went out to the Memorial Gardens to chat to the youngsters hanging around to find out more.

They said they wanted somewhere to go that they could call their own, and from there the Drop Inn was born.

After a lot of hard work, the club opened at the top of King Street in February 2000. More than 80 young people attended its first session.

Ten years on, The Drop Inn has been through a lot of changes. The club moved to new premises in Derwent Street in 2003, and since then it has gone from strength to strength.

It now offers young people the chance to gain qualifications in subjects including childcare, drugs awareness, sign language and personal development.

The centre has achieved consistently high pass rates in all of its courses.

Libby Rogers, 16, the head of the youth committee at the centre, said: "You get so many opportunities here that you just wouldn't get anywhere else.

"I've done volunteering and work that counts towards my college course. It's somewhere all young people can come, it keeps them off the streets and it's where people socialise. There's nowhere else like this."

Young manager Laura Taylor, who joined the centre as a member when it first opened, said: "The Drop Inn has helped me a hell of a lot. It's the biggest part of my life.

"The support I have had has helped me so much, and the amount of training and qualifications I've come out with are a lot better than I would ever have got at school."

The teens also get the chance to take part in projects ranging from knife-crime awareness to intergenerational work promoting links between elderly and young people in Belper. The centre's participation in the Linking Lives intergenerational project earned it national recognition.

Andrea said: "A lot of barriers have been broken down through the project. It challenged a lot of opinions held by both generations."

Youths have also taken part in projects with disabled people who use the Whitemoor Centre, on John O'Gaunts Way, and have taken part in activities with young people with disabilities.

A recent pilot scheme of Friday night 'safe raves' has also brought the centre into the spotlight.

The events were launched in response to complaints about anti-social behaviour caused by young people in the town on weekend nights.

Young manager Tom Stone was given a volunteering award for his work on the raves, which are set to take place once again this week.

Last year alone, more than 400 young people have used the services on offer at the Drop Inn. The centre has gained the support of parents, who are pleased by the opportunities there children are given there, Belper School, which celebrates the impact it has on its students, and the police, who work closely with the club.

During its time, the centre has not faced very much opposition, although Andrea said some people still attributed anti-social behaviour in the town – and especially down Derwent Street – to the youngsters who use the club.

Eleven volunteers work at the centre, three of whom offer their services full time.

Andrea said: "The success of the centre is that we have a really strong team, and they are here because they believe in what we are trying to do.

"It might all seem like a bit of fun, but our main aim is to encourage personal development. It's also about respecting the community and other people."

The Drop Inn is open four nights a week from 4.30pm on Monday, 6.30pm on Tuesday, and 7pm on Wednesday and Thursday, and until 9pm Monday to Thursday. It is open from 7pm until 10pm for Friday night safe raves.