Topsy Vanheuverzwijn-Borthwick
Topsy joined The Cotswold Gardening School team in March 2015, taking on the role of office manager plus and job sharing with Helena.
She is the first point of contact for students and tutors.
While making sure questions and booking requests are dealt with promptly and efficiently, Topsy also keeps an eye on timetables, proofreading documents, course handouts and many other important tasks involved in the day-to-day running of the school.
We don’t know what we would do without her.
Topsy holds an MSc degree in bio-engineering, chemistry and food sciences and learnt about plant anatomy, physiology, nomenclature and basic agricultural principles during her studies at the Ghent University in Belgium. She also did several architectural drawing courses and loves working in a creative design environment.
Having worked as a scientific employee and researcher at the Ghent University College, she is very familiar with working in a systematical, organised manner and interacting with students and clients, skills which come in very handy while in her current position at the school.
Being passionate about vegetarian food, Topsy developed a love for plants, gardening and cooking early on. This led her to become an active representative of the Flemish Vegetarian Society as board member, scientific adviser and manager of the culinary team, organising workshops, lectures and banquets, until she moved to the UK in 2005 and started a family. She loves being able to now combine her organisational and creative skills with a love of gardening here at The Cotswold Gardening School.