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Jill Scott (PA)
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Former England footballer Jill Scott has taken over as president of a charity which aims to protect green spaces for children and sport.
Scott, 38, is now president of Fields in Trust, which was formed in 1925 to protect parks and playing fields from urban development.
She takes over from the Prince of Wales, who is also the Patron of the charity after assuming the role in 2024, taking over from his grandmother the late Queen after her death in 2022.
Scott was pictured with William on Wednesday evening during the England women’s football team’s Euro 2025 match with the Netherlands, where the prince welcomed her to the role.
William previously took over the presidency of the charity in 2013 from his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Prince of Wales (PA)PA Archive/PA Images - Victoria Jones
Speaking about the importance of the charity’s work, Scott, who spent her childhood playing football in local parks, stressed the value of protecting green spaces.
“I was a young girl with a dream that didn’t exist, and I went on to play for England, but without that green space, that would never have happened.
“Access to these spaces should be seen as a right, not a privilege,” she said. –
According to the charity, 800 green spaces have been lost between 2013 to 2023, and one in three children do not have a playground close to home.
Across the last century, the charity said it has given nine million people access to a green space within a 10-minute walk of their home.
The charity also said it has protected 4,000 sports pitches, 1,500 playgrounds and 1,200 parks, and Scott added: “I’m thinking let’s double it, let’s triple it.”
She urged people to protect their local parks and see them not as a green space, but as a “safe space”.
The 100th anniversary celebrations, held at the Barbican in London, brought together some of Britain’s leading sporting and environmental organisations to see Fields in Trust launch its Centenary Pledge, which aims to have at least one million more people living within a 10-minute walk of a green space by 2030.
With a societal increase in screen time, social isolation, and mental health challenges, the pledge highlights the physical, mental and social benefits of green spaces.
Tony Juniper, Fields in Trust ambassador, said: “When we talk about green spaces, we mean far more than recreation. These places are essential for climate resilience, biodiversity, and our mental and physical health.
“They’re where many of us first connect with nature – and where future generations will learn to care for it.
“In a world increasingly tied to screens, these spaces help us stay connected to each other and the natural world. There is huge societal benefit in managing nature and people together.
But we must raise our voices, invest effort, and protect these spaces – for our wellbeing now, and for the future.”
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