Purple plaque for divorce pioneer
A READING school has unveiled a purple plaque in honour of a former pupil.
Last week, Samantha Woodham returned to The Abbey School to see her Women in Innovation Award from Innovate UK.
This recognises her work in the legal industry, having co-founded The Divorce Surgery, a multiaward-winning service offering a fixed-fee, less adversarial, faster and more cost-effective approach to divorce.
Ms Woodham, a family law barrister, identified a niche in the divorce market and developed a model enabling separating couples to share one lawyer.
Her approach has been widely adopted across the family law industry, with Innovate UK’s support helping Woodham to invest in the technology side of her business.
The Women in Innovation Award, which comes with a cash injection of £50,000, recognises female innovators developing pioneering solutions to societal, environmental, and economic challenges.
More than 150 women have received the award so far, with winners working on everything from precision medicine to eco-friendly materials and digital education tools.
“I feel so lucky to have been able to take what seemed at the time as a rather outlandish idea and develop a model which is now being adopted by the family law industry as a whole,” says Ms Woodham.
Will le Fleming, the head of The Abbey School, added: “Samantha has shown talent, dedication and passion to make a change in the world.
“We are thrilled to recognise and celebrate her achievements.”
The Abbey School’s purple plaque initiative is part of a wider programme to acknowledge the contributions of women innovators across the UK.