New voice for lone parents as leading charities merge...

04/06/07 The three million children being brought up by a parent on their own have won a new voice following the merger of Britain's two leading lone parent organisations, Gingerbread and the National Council for One Parent Families. The new organisation aims to deliver a better standard of service to the thousands of lone parents it will help every year, providing advice and helping them into work. And it will mean a louder and more effective voice for Britain's two million lone parents and their children.

The new organisation will be led by Chris Pond, former Work and Pensions Minister, who said last night:

"Being a parent is tough at the best of times, but when you're bringing up children on your own, the challenges are even greater. Lone parents often find themselves trying to make ends meet on a low income, juggling work and family responsibilities and facing social isolation and stigma. Nowadays, lone parents also have to put up with being labelled as workshy if they stay at home with the kids, or as bad parents if they go out to work. We'll be trying to make sure that lone parents are seen as the heroes they are and not the villains that they are sometimes portrayed as".

For more information contact: One Parent Families/Gingerbread tel: 020 7428 5400