Gingerbread (charity) UK. The charity describes its vision as ‘a society in which single parent families are valued and treated equally and fairly.’ Helpline Gingerbread runs a Freephone helpline (0808 802 0925) offering advice and information for single parents. The helpline is staffed by advisers who are trained to give guidance on practical matters to do with money, benefits, employment issues and family law. Membership Single parents can become members of Gingerbread for free, most signing up via the Gingerbread website. Members can use the protected online forums, receive a monthly e-newsletter and get access to discounts and special offers. Local groups
Gingerbread house hotels display rival gingerbread houses during the Christmas season. In 2013, a group in Bryan, Texas, USA, broke the Guinness World Record set the previous year for the largest gingerbread house, with a edible-walled house in aid of a hospital trauma centre. The gingerbread house had an estimated calorific value exceeding 35.8 million and ingredients included of brown sugar, of butter, 7,200 eggs and of general purpose flour. The executive sous-chef at the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, Jon Lovitch, broke the record for the largest gingerbread village with 135 residential and 22 commercial buildings, and cable cars and a