Here's a quick lowdown on Dwayne Fields, the British explorer who was named as the 11th Chief Scout this week.
ADVERTISEMENTWho is it? Dwayne Fields. He’s a British explorer who is the first Black Briton to reach the Magnetic North Pole, and the second Black person in the world, after Matthew Henson, who did it in 1909.
Why is he in the news? Fields has just been appointed as the next Chief Scout.
The what? The Chief Scout is a ceremonial figurehead of the Scouting Association. Started in 1907 by Robert Baden-Powell, the Scouts has grown to be one of the most popular global youth movements that teaches children outdoor skills such as camping, hiking and woodcrafts.
Who else has been Chief Scout? Fields is the 11th Chief Scout of the Scouting Association, the UK division of Scouting that stems from the original idea by Baden-Powell. Unsurprisingly, Baden-Powell appointed himself the first Chief Scout until his death in 1941.
Most recently, the 10th Chief Scout was Bear Grylls, a British adventurer who used his former career in the SAS to carve out a career in television as a survival expert. Grylls took over the role in 2009 aged 35, making him the youngest person to take on the role. He steps down from the role having served the second-longest term, only behind Baden-Powell.
Why Dwayne Fields? Just like Bear Grylls before him, Dwayne Fields has some serious adventuring pedigree. In 2010, he walked the 400 nautical mile journey to reach the magnetic North Pole, for which he was invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace and was awarded The Freedom of the City of London by the Lord Mayor.
Why is Dwayne Fields’ appointment significant? Fields is the first Black person to take on the role of Chief Scout in the organisation’s 117 year history. He was born in Jamaica and moved to the UK when he was six years old. Growing up in London, he joined the Scouts soon after moving to the country.
“I never thought I belonged anywhere until the moment I walked into that hut,” Fields told the BBC about his first time at a Scout meeting in Palmers Green, north London.
Fields has also faced tribulations and was the victim of knife and gun crime in his youth but believes the Scouts offered him “new horizons”. He’s said that he wants to grow the Scout movement in the UK to encourage at-risk youth into “unlocking their potential”.
“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’,” he said.
