Meet Pervaneh Child
Eileen Ballance - Class of 2015 • August 8, 2025
Pervaneh was born in Oban in the West Highlands of Scotland. Her family lived in a small village called Port Appin about twenty miles north on the shores of Loch Linnhe. She shares that from the middle of the loch on a clear day, you can see the top of Ben Nevis.
She went to a local school until age ten. During those years she enjoyed riding her bike, being a Brownie, and Gaelic singing. She was then sent to England to attend boarding schools with her elder brothers and cousins. Pervaneh remembers that the boarding schools were extremely old fashioned in the 1980s and she felt she might have missed some opportunities during that time.
She has a degree in psychology but was not happy in that field, so she decided to pursue a career in law. She had fun being a litigation solicitor in London but this became incompatible with motherhood. For the past ten years she has worked for Citizens Advice, a UK information charity set up post WW2 to ensure no one is disadvantaged due to lack of information or access to it, and to lobby for social justice.
Pervaneh is in Norfolk with her husband, Tim, who is a lawyer in the British Army and here with NATO. Since his family is from Norfolk, England, they feel right at home!
During the first month in our city, Pervaneh’s husband met a Norfolk Master Gardener who told him that the program was the best thing he had done in years. Pervaneh signed up for the classes immediately as she was missing her own small garden in the UK where she raised vegetables, raspberries, and tomatoes. In the September online information session, a comment was made that she lived close to the Fred Heutte Center and there she met Monica who was very generous with her time and expertise. She attended as many trial sessions as she could. She believes the program is fabulous and a golden opportunity for her to learn more about the unique area of Norfolk, which she calls the Venice of America!
Pervaneh was “taken aback” when she saw the size of the textbook! The first chapter on botany seemed full of words with which she was not familiar. But she enjoyed attending the classes and felt the course was well structured. She enjoyed meeting all the people who were invested in the successful completion of the course, including her mentor. She liked the way classes were held at different locations because this provided an opportunity for her to get to know the city.
Because she lives close to Weyanoke Bird and Wildflower Sanctuary and the Heutte Native Pollinator Garden, much of her required fifty hours were spent at those locations. She also participated in “beautification days” for the Elizabeth River Trail, Urban Ag, Zoo Cart, Significant Tree Project, and the Butterfly House at Norfolk Botanical Garden. She plans to continue working on these projects where she can admire the handiwork she has helped with and see how a gardened space can transform the experience of the city and people living there.
Pervaneh enjoys tennis and traveling and she’s thinking that bonsai gardening might be fun.
Her family consists of her husband, three children, and an “outdoorsy” cat who is currently living with her mother in the UK.
When you see Pervaneh, be sure to introduce yourself and welcome her to the NMGA.
