Adventurer who escaped inner city life of ‘weed, cocaine and guns’ succeeds Bear Grylls as Chief Scout

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Almost 20 years ago, Dwayne Fields was faced by gang culture as a boy at his east London home with friends drawing him towards a life of “suitcases of weed, cocaine and guns”.

But a near-death experience, when a loaded gun was pointed at him but jammed, turned his life around - and on Friday, it was announced that the 41-year-old will succeed TV star Bear Grylls as the UK’s new chief scout.

It‘s an uplifting journey from his boyhood roots in Stoke Newington, and one he hopes will inspire others to join the Scout organisation, which he became part of aged seven years old.

His path upwards has also seen him become the first black Briton to reach the North Pole in 2013 as well as building a successful career in adventure and TV, presenting shows on Channel 5, Disney+ and National Geographic.

“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,” he said.

“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 takes over from Mr Grylls who stepped down earlier this year, having been appointed the youngest every chief scout, aged 34, in 2009.

His departure from the role came after photographs emerged of him baptising Russell Brand in the River Thames.

The unlikely connection between the pair seemingly began when Brand appeared last year on Running Wild, filmed in the Hebrides.

Last year, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary reported allegations of sexual assault. Brand denies all the allegations against him.

On stepping down, Mr Grylls said: “Being Chief Scout has been the greatest honour of my life. The kindness and commitment of our young people and volunteers is incredible.

“And I’m so proud that since 2009 when I joined, over 2 million people have been through Scouts in the UK.

But now the role will be taken on by Mr Fields, who 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.

Back in 2011, he told the Guardian how he lived a dangerous young life with an uneasy relationship with the gang culture around him. He said he was robbed several times and has scars on his chest from stab wounds.

He said he felt that close friends were drawing him towards a life of “suitcases of weed, cocaine and guns”.

But the attempting shooting, which followed a physical confrontation, led to him wanting change.

This week, he said: “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.”

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

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.”