In a stinging attack the association for one parent families, based on the town's Commercial Road, criticised producers of the prime-time TV show for portraying single parents in a bad light and not giving them credit for raising children on their ow
n.
The first episode of the series a fortnight ago charted the journey of one group of single mothers trying to get off benefits and into employment.
The mums featured were helped along the way by Hayley, a tutor from private company A4e, who managed to use every cliche and analogy to grind them down before she could "elevate" them as better people back into jobs.
It was this attitude in particular that annoyed Rhona Cunningham, manager of Fife Gingerbread.
She said: "Lone parents watching this must have been quaking in their shoes, as Hayley bullied and intimidated them into conforming and changing from 'Caterpillars to Butterflies' (the comparison used in the programme to describe benefit claimants and the change from 'living off the state' to the 'dignified position of becoming a wage earner').
"She stripped them of their dignity, reduced them to tears and then had the audacity to claim the credit and glory for change.
"There was no attempt to explain the precarious nature of the transition from benefits to employment to either the clients or the viewers."
Mrs Cunningham further criticised Government policy which she insists has made employment, particularly at the lower end of the market, unstable and insecure, adding the television company did not highlight the financial nightmare many single parents face if made redundant.
She continued: "In Fife, Gingerbread works closely with partners in JobCentre Plus, colleges, Community Services, and many more agencies and they all adopt a far more person-centred approach, encouraging lone parents to increase confidence, skills and experiences long before this type of mandatory programme reaches out and has an impact on them."
Membership to Fife Gingerbread is available to anyone who is bringing up children on their own, more information is available at www.fifegingerbread.org.uk.
