Gingerbread (charity) single parents return to the workplace. Gingerbread’s policy and research team works with elected representatives and other policy makers to influence policy and practice on issues relating to single parents. Gingerbread has campaigned against negative stereotyping of single parent families. Their ‘Let’s lose the labels’ and ‘Single parents: you’re brilliant’ campaigns both challenged stigma against single parents. Recently, Gingerbread has campaigned against government proposals to charge parents to use the Child Support Agency, and against cuts to Legal Aid proposed by the Welfare Reform Bill. The records of Gingerbread are held at The Women's Library at the Library of the
Gingerbread house component of the bakers' guild. Gingerbread baking developed into an acknowledged profession. In the 17th century only professional gingerbread bakers were permitted to bake gingerbread except at Christmas and Easter, when anyone was allowed to bake it. In Europe gingerbreads were sold in special shops and at seasonal markets that sold sweets and gingerbread shaped as hearts, stars, soldiers, babies, riders, trumpets, swords, pistols and animals. Gingerbread was especially sold outside churches on Sundays. Religious gingerbread reliefs were purchased for the particular religious events, such as Christmas and Easter. The decorated gingerbreads were given as presents to adults and children,