It was a day of celebration for Cheltenham’s Balcarras School who welcomed Jo Whiley to open their brand-new Music School on Wednesday. The state of the art development was financed by a donation from Superdry Co-Founder Julian Dunkerton, who cut the ribbon alongside the Radio 2 DJ to officially open the facility.

Children from the school gave Jo Whiley and Julian Dunkerton a guided tour of the new building before performing for the pair in the school assembly room.

The new building was designed and constructed in a collaboration between RRA Architects and Dowdeswell Estates, with the latter owned by former Balcarras alumnus, Rod Jenner. The building comprises a music classroom, a large music studio which can accommodate up to 60 people, a new sixth form study centre, and an additional three practice rooms.

Jo Whiley, in Cheltenham all week covering the Jazz Festival for her Radio 2 show, is certain the students at Balcarras will benefit enormously from the new development. She said: “It’s an incredible facility, the pupils that come here are so, so lucky. It’s been a real privilege to meet so many enthusiastic pupils and members of staff and I wish you all the best for the future.”

Balcarras School have been able to fund this project – which has taken over a year of planning, design and construction to complete – through a donation from Julian Dunkerton, and the continued generosity of the parents of Balcarras students.

Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton commented: “It’s so exciting to be here and see the finished work. To walk in for the first time, I’m just blown away. I’m sure the new music school will be a huge benefit to the students and staff here at the school.

“I’m committed to promoting education and supporting local enterprise in Gloucestershire. Introducing children to music during early development supports budding musicians and helps children to interact. The benefits are both educational as well as vocational, an option that may not normally be available to all. The new Balcarras Music School will encourage children to be motivated and engaged, positively impacting not only their music at school, but also their overall wellbeing and future development.”

Dominic Burke, Head of Balcarras School, was overwhelmed with the reaction to the new building. He said: “We are so proud of what we’ve achieved. It’s a flagship facility that will be used by generations of children to come. We’re ever so grateful to everyone that has contributed, particularly Julian for his incredible generosity.

“We don’t view music as an add-on, music is integral to the whole curriculum itself and we want to invest in music, drama and the arts. Wanting to do something is one thing, being able to do it is another. We’ve spoken about how we could bring some funding streams into the school for a long time, that’s where Julian Dunkerton came in. We owe so much to his generosity.

“The new music centre has caused so much excitement in the school, the students were amazed by it. There’s a real wow factor about the place. We believe in providing the best possible facilities for our students, it’s a wonderful addition to our school. It’s been a long-term project, we’ve spent many years dreaming about building a truly world class music facility, to finally be here now is a great feeling.”