Gingerbread (charity) her marriage, Tessa Fothergill, a mother from London struggling with economic difficulties as a single parent, set up a local self-help group for others in a similar position. Fothergill was featured in the "Sunday Times", and the response from other single parents resulted in the creation of Gingerbread as a grassroots organisation providing community-level support for single parents. The name 'Gingerbread' came about after Fothergill saw a cafe called 'Golden Age Gingerbread' and liked the name. The National Council for One Parent Families and Gingerbread merged in 2007, and relaunched under the name Gingerbread in 2009. Head offices for Gingerbread
Gingerbread house historians, the Grimm brothers were speaking about something that already existed. In modern times the tradition has continued in certain places in Europe. In Germany the Christmas markets still sell decorated gingerbread before Christmas. ("Lebkuchenhaus" or "Pfefferkuchenhaus" are the German terms for a gingerbread house.) Making gingerbread houses is still a way of celebrating Christmas in many families. They are built traditionally before Christmas using pieces of baked gingerbread dough assembled with melted sugar. The roof tiles can consist of frosting or candy. The gingerbread house yard is usually decorated with icing to represent snow. A gingerbread house does not