Kate ‘looking forward’ to working with new UK chief scout Dwayne Fields
Adventurer Mr Fields, the first black Briton to reach the North Pole, was confirmed as Bear Grylls’ successor in the role by the Scouts on Thursday.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Princess of Wales has said she is “delighted” and “looking forward” to working with Dwayne Fields, after he was announced as the UK’s new chief scout.
Adventurer Mr Fields, the first black Briton to reach the North Pole, was confirmed as Bear Grylls’ successor in the role by the Scouts on Thursday.
The group, which was formed by Sir Robert Baden-Powell in 1907, has a membership of some 500,000 young people and adult volunteers across the country.
The princess, who is joint-president of the Scout Association, said in an X post: “Delighted to welcome @DwayneFields as the new UK Chief Scout.
“The Scouts is such an incredible organisation, teaching #SkillsForLife and making a huge difference to young people across the country.
“Looking forward to working with you! C”
Kate began her support for Scouts as a volunteer while living on Anglesey and has been “a great friend” of the movement, according to the organisation’s website.
Born in Jamaica, Mr Fields came to the UK at the age of six.
He grew up in inner city London without access to nature and said the Scouts made a “huge difference” to his life.
Mr Fields told the PA news agency: “It’s absolutely a sense of honour (to be appointed) – initially disbelief, followed by a huge sense of pride in something that’s made a huge difference to my life.
“I remember being seven years old and walking into that Cub Scouts hut in Palmers Green in north London, and I never thought I belonged anywhere until the moment I walked into that hut.
It’s the fact that other young people can look at me and say, ‘Well, actually, that guy started exactly where I am’
“And now to be given this role as chief scout, to me it’s pride of place, really.
“It’s the fact that other young people can look at me and say, ‘Well, actually, that guy started exactly where I am’.”
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Fields said he survived a stabbing and attempted shooting while growing up in London.
He said: “I was stabbed, I was a victim of street violence, I’d never carried a knife with malice, I’ve never carried any instruments with malice, and I suffered a stabbing incident just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“It would have been so easy for me to slip and fall on the wrong side of the tracks, but in terms of my self-confidence, my self-belief… sometimes we look at it and call them soft skills – empathy and patience, and understanding, and communications skills – all these things played a part in me making the right decisions at the right time, and arguably I learned those and developed those in scouting.”
The 41-year-old was formally invested as chief scout on Thursday at Scout Park in north-east London where he spent time in Cub Scouts as a child.
Chief scouts are appointed for a five-year tenure but may serve for a longer period.
Mr Fields will be the 11th person to hold the title.
He said many traditional outdoor skills – including knot-tying, camping and bridge-building – are “at risk” today, and hoped his legacy as chief scout would be “all about growth and bringing more volunteers on board”.
After becoming the first black Briton to reach the North Pole in 2013, Mr Fields has since had a successful career in adventure and TV, presenting shows on Channel 5, Disney+ and National Geographic.
This included recreating the Antarctica journeys of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Roald Amundsen alongside Ben Fogle for a 2023 television series.