Team DUSSSK

Team DUSSSK is a society based in the City of Durham, United Kingdom. Founded in 2005, Team DUSSSK exists to raise awareness about DUSSSK (Durham University Students Supporting Street Kids) and its parent SSSK (Students Supporting Street Kids) a national charity.

SSSK

Students Supporting Street Kids was set up in 1998 by two students, Johnny Glennie and Ben Phillips based on their direct experience of working with street children.

Students Supporting Street Kids is a venture in universities across England which doesn't deal with street kids directly, but rather raises money and support for existing well managed charities. Branches currently in operation are based in Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Durham, Bristol and St Paul's School (London).

SSSK’s projects currently include CENIT in Ecuador, OFFER’s Dum Dum Project in India and various projects in Kosovo and Colombia.

DUSSSK

The Durham Branch of SSSK, DUSSSK, was formally ratified by the Durham Students Union in 2004. Its founding President Gregory G.L. Smith was able to institutionalise the society in a very short space of time, embedding it into the fabric of Durham Student Life.

During the early experimental years DUSSSK attempted to entrench various charitable functions and develop a framework for future activities. Events included live band nights such as 'Battle of the Bands' [http://www.durham21.co.uk/archive/archive.asp?ID=3252] , blind date evenings and even an erotic dancing night; all succeeded to varying degrees.

As of early 2007 ‘Beat Surrender’, a regular live music night featuring unsigned acts was the mainstay of DUSSSK’s fundraising, raising over $3500. [http://www.durham21.co.uk/archive/archive.asp?ID=3302] A second regular live music event, Music Beats Poverty, is in its embryonic stages; it is aimed at raising money specifically for humanitarian crises.

Team DUSSSK

The brainchild of former DUSSSK president Gregory Smith, Team DUSSSK raises awareness of DUSSSK by organising various sporting activities and fixtures. Nominally chartered with playing against sports teams of varying proficiencies and disciplines, Team DUSSSK attempts to field a side that will match, within reason, the skill and fitness levels of the opposing team; the principle being that a team that has trained together should be able to overcome a team that has not, therefore Team DUSSSK should always lose!

An unwritten rule of Team DUSSSK's is that each team should contain at least one total novice; this means that there is always someone on the field of play who has literally never played the game before. Similar to the first rule is the unwritten rule that the incumbent president should always play also; often rules one and two are fulfilled by the same person.

In October 2006 Team DUSSSK was itself ratifies into the Durham Students’ Union and established its first autonomous executive ruling body under inaugural president Gordon Blakeway. Since this ratification Team DUSSSK has played fixtures in hockey, Basketball, football [http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/durhamcountyfc/page14.phtml] , netball, lacrosse, ultimate, volleyball, and squash. Unexpected victories have been achieved in Hockey, Volleyball, Lacrosse, Netball, and notably Ultimate Frisbee. In 2006 Team DUSSSK hosted their first Dodge ball tournament; this was a success and has since been repeated in 2007, with moves to make it an annual occurrence. Team DUSSSK also took part in Globalise and Localise, a five-a-side football tournament. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/articles/2006/06/06/globalise_localise_festival_feature.shtml]

Stash

Following intense negotiations and designing, the Team DUSSSK crest was decided upon and imprinted on various items of clothing. Since then ‘Stash’, or clothing emblazoned with the crest worn to identify the wearer with the organisation, has become something of a phenomenon. The nominal domain of the organisation’s aptly named ‘Sultan of Stash’, clothing bearing the Team DUSSSK logo is now commonplace. Team DUSSSK’s first ever Sultan Thomas McNeil oversaw the development of the stash and is largely responsible for the phenomenon as it exists today. The Team DUSSSK Crest is based on the Goddess Themis with the image of Durham Cathedral silhouetted in the background.

Themis is among the six sons and six daughters of Gaia and Uranus. The choice of Themis was a controversial one, and followed from a comment made describing Team DUSSSK as ‘sporting vigilantes’. In the spirit of vigilante justice Themis is the embodiment of divine order, law and custom. When Themis is disregarded, Nemesis brings just and wrathful retribution.

The silhouetted cathedral serves as a reminder of the Team’s origins in Durham. The crest could therefore be interpreted as a symbol of the Team’s desire to bring balance and justice from Durham to the world. The placement of Themis on a hill symbolizes the primacy of Justice and Order; also the scales are balanced and Themis’s sword is held by her side and she is blindfolded. These three represent the aim of achieving balance through non-violent and non-discriminatory means.

The motto ‘Je Me Souviens’ translates as ‘I remember’ and is said to be indicative of the desire of the founding members to enshrine the principals of charity and justice and to always remember, whether on the field or off it, that these principles are paramount and that there are children in the world who are not so fortunate.

References

# [http://www.durham21.co.uk/archive/archive.asp?ID=3252 DUSSSK Battle of the Bands]
# [http://www.durham21.co.uk/archive/archive.asp?ID=3302 Beat Surrender at the Fish Tank]
# [http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/durhamcountyfc/page14.phtml County managers and coaches graduate at charity match!]
# [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/articles/2006/06/06/globalise_localise_festival_feature.shtml BBC Wear: Globalise and Localise]

Sources

* [http://www.dsu.org.uk/societies/join/details.php?soc=Students+Supporting+Street+Kids+(DUSSSK) Durham Student Union]
* [http://www.dusssk.org.uk/news.php DUSSSK Homepage]
* [http://www.sssk.org.uk/ SSSK Homepage]
* [http://teamdusssk.spaces.live.com/ Team DUSSSK Homepage]
* [http://www.myspace.com/beatsurrenderdusssk Beat Surrender Page]