Youthscape playing cards

Published March 09, 2023 • Updated April 11, 2023

Two packs of playing cards offering emotional help and support to young people.

Youthscape is a registered charity founded in 1993 based in Luton in Bedfordshire. In 2004 the charity launched Selfharm – a UK-wide service offering young people advice and support to reduce harming. In 2014 it was renamed Alumina and migrated to an online training and support programme funded by Comic Relief and the National Lottery.

Talking about emotions playing cards

This pack is intended to be a discussion starter, based around four themes: Understanding Emotions (diamonds); Coping with Emotions (spades); Expressing Emotions (hearts); Emotional Perspectives (clubs). In addition, there are four “jokers” each displaying two different emotions (e.g. fear/anxiety; sadness/disappointment). These are meant to be put in front of the players beforehand and referred to when asked to “pick an emotion”.

Above: Talking about emotions playing cards published by Youthscape, UK.

Romance Academy playing cards

The intention behind these cards is to help 14-19 year olds conduct healthy conversations about sex and relationships in an intelligent and accessible way. Based on a normal pack of playing cards, each card asks a question with the aim of stimulating further discussion. Each of the 4 suits represents a topic: Values (diamonds), Choices (spades), Dilemmas (hearts), and Sexual Health (clubs). There are four jokers: two provide advice: Keep Safe and Keep Connected, and two offer information about the cards and Romance Academy.

Above: Romance Academy playing cards published by Youthscape, UK.

NOTE: “Alumina is a ground-breaking online support programme for young people who are struggling with self-harming behaviour. Live sessions through a web browser connect young people with trained youth workers over six weeks. It helps young people reduce their harming behaviour and find alternative ways of coping”.

• Youthscape►
• Alumina►

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By Peter Burnett

United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022

I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.

• Russian Playing Cards

Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.

Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.