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Working for One Parent Families|Gingerbread
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Updated March 08
The Charity
One Parent Families|Gingerbread is an independent charity working to promote the interests and welfare of lone parents and their children. Lone parents are facing major challenges. The group most affected by child poverty, isolation and social exclusion, they also find themselves at the centre of public debate around 'the family' and employment. One Parent Families is there to give them a voice and practical help.
One Parent Families
The charity was established in 1918 as 'The National Council for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child'. Our name changed in the 1970s to reflect a changing society and the broadening scope of our work, to include one-parent families created as a consequence of divorce or bereavement, including lone fathers, who constitute one in ten lone parents.
Gingerbread
The organisation Gingerbread was formed in 1970 by a lone mother in London - Tessa Fothergill - her marriage had recently broken down and she found being a lone parent such a struggle she decided to set up a self-help organisation. The Sunday Times featured an article on her and hundreds of parents in similar situations got in touch with her. This response gave birth to Gingerbread.
And the name? Tess lived near a restaurant called 'The Golden Age of Gingerbread' and felt that Gingerbread would make a good name. - 'Ginger' for gingering up support or getting help from the authorities
- 'Bread' the money and resources one-parent families need to support themselves and each other.
In May 2007, Gingerbread merged with One Parent Families.
Services for Lone Parents
We run the 'Lone Parent Helpline', a freephone, confidential, independent information and advice service for lone parents. The service is run in partnership with One Parent Families Scotland, our 'sister' charity.
We maintain a database of around 10,000 agencies across the UK to which lone parents can be signposted for local, regional or national help, on a wide range of issues.
Our website offers a wealth of information for lone parents, including the "Lone Parent Helpdesk', an inter-active information service.
We publish a wide range of free and low cost information for lone parents, ranging from guides on benefits & tax and child support, through to booklets on holidays and books for children.
Policy Research & Campaigning
We are the leading policy organisation in the UK representing the interests of lone parents to government and the media. We are widely seen as the centre of expertise on lone parents and key issues such as poverty, employment, tax & benefits, family law. We work with Ministers, officials, academics, think tanks and other voluntary organisations, to address key policy issues and to press for change. Our campaigning work is based on a combination of what lone parents tell us through specific research projects, feedback and evaluation from our services, and detailed policy analysis.
Membership
We are a membership organisation, with 13,000 individual lone parent family members and several groups and organisations, which are affiliated to us. Our aim over the next 3 years will be to expand our membership base and services for members, both as a means to meet the needs of lone parents, but also to increase the level of active involvement of lone parents in campaigning, service delivery, publicity, and fundraising.
Professional Services
We promote good practice in working with lone parents through training and consultancy, and through the development of pilot projects and innovative programmes to test out new ways of working.
COMMUNICATIONS & FUNDRAISING
Finance and Funding
The charity's turnover stands at around £2.1 million. Income derived from charitable trusts, companies, individuals & events and grants from government departments.
JK Rowling and our Ambassadors
One Parent Families has a number of Ambassadors. JK Rowling, was our first 'Ambassador', has donated over £1 million. In 2004, JK Rowling was appointed President of One Parent Families.
We now have six 'Ambassadors', Kate Fawkes, a lone parent who is the person behind Bob the Builder, Lisa Aziz, former Sky News Anchor, Arabella Weir, comedian and author, the actor Neil Pearson, Basketball star John Amaechi and Tracy Edwards MBE, a lone parent who was part of the all female crew to compete in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.
People
Our staff are our biggest and most important resource by far. We are committed to becoming an inclusive, diverse organisation, and a learning organisation. We have an approach to supervision & appraisal, which we call 'Personal Development', which focuses on how each member of staff can contribute to achieving the charity's aims and objectives in our business plan, and ensures that members of staff can express their own views about their work and that of the organisation. We commit 1.5% of what we spend on salaries to our staff training & development budget each year, and encourage staff to work with their managers to identify their own training & development needs. We are a hard working and creative organisation, and we are always looking for ways to work smarter and more effectively. We work hard to be 'Family Friendly' and help people achieve work-life balance. This includes a flexi-time system, a working from home policy, and the most generous leave and maternity arrangements that we can afford. We also have an attractive pension scheme. We offer a 5% employer contribution for employees who contribute 1.25% or more.
Most staff work in our main office in Kentish Town Road and we also have an office in Manchester and Wales. Our offices are air conditioned and pleasant, but unfortunately are located on the first and second floors and we have no lift.
Location Location Location
Transport Links
The nearest tube station is Kentish Town (Zone 2), which is 3 minutes walk from the office. It is on the Northern Line, High Barnet branch, with regular trains through to the main interchanges at Kings Cross, Euston, Leicester Square, Charing Cross & Embankment.
The ThamesLink service also runs through the same station, linking Kentish Town to Kings Cross, Farringdon. 5 minutes in the opposite direction leads to Kentish Town West. This provides overland rail services to Richmond, Highbury and Islington, North Woolwich.
The Local Area
It may not be Chelsea, but Kentish Town does have a lot more to offer than you might expect.
Within 2-10 minutes walk of the office, you can find:
Bars Restaurants & Cafes
The Vine, Highgate Road (Gastro Pub)
The Oxford (Bar/Restaurant -- very chic, very cool)
Pizza Express (Jazz in the evenings)
Bengal Lancer (one of London's best known curry houses, next door to the office)
Lots of small local cafes and restaurants for anything from decent cappuccino to mezze.
Shopping
A local Somerfield, Tesco and Woolworths are handy for all the basics.
One of the best organic butchers and fishmongers in London (according to Nigella).
Deli for posh cheeses, breads, olive oils etc
Owl Bookshop (one of London's few remaining independent bookshops)
Musical equipment shops
Hardware store selling everything.
Newsagents, greengrocer stalls, florists etc etc
10-15 minutes walk takes you to Camden, for Camden Market, the Jazz Café, and a wide range of shops and restaurants.
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