Adventurer Dwayne Fields to succeed Bear Grylls as new UK chief scout

The Scouts have announced Dwayne Fields, the first black Briton to reach the North Pole, as the UK’s new chief scout.

Mr Fields vowed to show that the group “is a family for absolutely anyone” and appeal to new communities which may have been put off by “a lot of the older ideas” around scouting – such as those in inner cities.

The group has a membership of some 500,000 young people and adult volunteers.

The adventurer will succeed TV star Bear Grylls, who was appointed as chief scout in 2009, aged 34, making him the UK’s youngest ever in the role at the time.

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.

He 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.

“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’.”

Mr Fields said volunteer leaders had “showed me I could do anything I put my mind to” and “taught me to believe in myself”.

He went on to become the first black Briton to reach the North Pole in 2013 and 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.

Mr Fields, 41, 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.

He said he hoped to be a “role model” to a new generation of Scouts and encourage new communities to join the group, which was formed by Sir Robert Baden-Powell in 1907 with a camp of 20 boys on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour.

“I think the idea of scouting still holds on to maybe a lot of the older ideas,” he continued.

“There are a lot of groups and communities who still think that maybe scouting isn’t for them and I’m hoping that they’ll look at me and say, ‘well, actually, I have something in common with that guy – he grew up where I grew up, he looks like me. If scouting is for him, it’s for me as well’.

“Scouting is a family for absolutely anyone.”

Mr Fields said many traditional outdoor skills – including knot-tying, camping and bridge-building – are “at risk” today.

“The more we get more young people to go outside and be active in the outdoors and spend time in nature, in our natural spaces, the more they’ll appreciate it and want to safeguard it going forward,” he added.

He said he hoped his legacy as chief scout would be “all about growth and bringing more volunteers on-board”.

Carl Hankinson, UK chief volunteer at the Scouts, said: “I’m so excited to welcome Dwayne Fields as chief scout. A committed Scout ambassador since 2017, Dwayne has visited hundreds of Scout groups, events and camps across the UK and internationally.

“He champions the sense of belonging Scouts gives young people. He is able to reach across generations, to further expand reach across all communities.”

Sophia Sanyahumbi, a 17-year-old Explorer Scout from south London, said: “I can see that Dwayne is determined to make a difference to young people’s lives through scouting.

“I had the pleasure of spending time with him this week and can tell he is passionate about making sure more young people get the chance to join the Scouts.

“He talked to me about how scouting gave him a sense of belonging and confidence as a young person and how he intends to create more opportunities for young people from all communities to have the same opportunities as he did.”

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.