Naipes Heraclio Fournier manufactures a deck of cards whose income will be donated by Cartamundi to the National Health Sistem of the United Kingdom (Photos)

Even though the safety rules are challenging family life, several rather positive outcomes have since emerged.

One positive outcome has been the increase in family and friends connecting during lockdown. The lack of physical get-togethers has meant a huge surge in daily facetimes, virtual pub quizzes and people coming together to help one another feel less alone. Similarly, those isolating together have truly fallen in love with board games, jigsaws and card games, utilizing them as a way of connecting people and collectively easing worried minds.

“We’ve seen an increase in demand for our games,” says Daniel King, General Manager of Cartamundi UK, “which you sort of feel in two minds about. It’s been great to see our games playing a role in encouraging quality family time, which really aligns with our company’s purpose of 'Sharing the Magic of Playing Together'; however, it is important to us that we did something positive from this increased interest.

“As a company we’ve spent fifty years learning how to create playing cards that stand the test of time. We want to funnel this expertise into a campaign to ensure it is more than a gimmick or fleeting fad. We are motivated by our desire to build something to last, something we can be proud of, and something that will, ultimately, actually make a difference”.

The Cartamundi team set to work creating, manufacturing and launching a new pack of playing cards in a bid to raise funds for the NHS heroes.

The deck was specially crafted with illustrator JJ to feature NHS Heroes including doctors, nurses and surgeons in place of traditional Jacks, Kings and Queens, as well as the rainbow colors that adorn windows across the nation.

King continued: “It would have been very easy to just create a new sleeve for traditional cards with the NHS charity logo on and I’m sure these would have generated sales, however that simply wouldn’t have been enough. It wouldn’t have captured our emotions".

‘We wanted to really celebrate our heroes and when we found JJ Illustrates through social media we could see how her illustrations of people could really depict our NHS Frontline workers – so with her help, we transformed a pack as you know it. Jack, Kings, and Queens became our NHS Frontline heroes. The design is great, it’s warm, colorful and most importantly, it’s authentic".

‘Finding the right NHS partner to support that would really deliver results was hugely important of the process – a number of charities had emerged almost overnight and various brands had created campaigns too".

“There are a number of charities promising to raise funds for Covid-19 relief, however we wanted to ensure our partner was going to play a pivotal role in both Covid-19 and the future of the NHS. NHS Charities Together was the ideal partner for us, we know that our support would both help now as we face Covid-19 but also in the future when things perhaps start to return to some form of normality. As well as supporting the NHS nationally they also support on a local level so we know that funds will actually reach the NHS heroes and those who need our support”.

Crowdfunder offered a unique route to market and a way in which the business could fundraise and know that all money raised would go back to the charity without the complications of retailer profits, fees and other hoops associated with bringing a product to market.

Initial support has been fantastic, over the last day or two since going public, Cartamundi has raised over £1,200 with 125 supporters.
The NHS Heroes deck are available as a reward for a £5 donation at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/nhs-playingcards . If you make a £50 donation you will receive 12 decks or you can donate to the charity without a reward deck of cards. All proceeds from the sale of the cards will go to NHS Charities Together.

In addition to this Cartamundi has also created a brand new website www.stayandplay.cards; where there are thousands of different card games available to play, creating hours of fun for the family.