Kate Middleton Chooses Charities to Back, Becomes Scout Volunteer

Nine months after marrying into the royal family, Kate Middleton has finally chosen the charities she will be supporting and will officially become a volunteer for the Scout Association, St. James's Palace has announced.

The Duchess of Cambridge has selected a number of charities that deal with a range of issues from drug addiction to helping young people. She has also become a royal patron of East Anglia's Children's Hospices, Action on Addiction, the National Portrait Gallery and the Art Room.

The duchess has chosen to support organizations that complement the charitable work already undertaken by her husband, the palace said in a statement.

Middleton has already laid the foundations for her new position as volunteer for the Scouts. As a girl she was in the junior Scouts wing, the Brownies, where she carried out community service and won several award badges for skills obtained during the process.

Kate would have learned simple first aid - learning to make a sling out of the Brownie scarf. Every session she would have learned really good life skills that she probably still uses today, a Brownie of the same era told the Daily Mail.

According to the source a recent study found many successful women had been Brownies, in part attributing their success later in life to the skills and teamwork that they learned there.

Kate will help out on an ad hoc basis with the Cub Scout packs, according to the Daily Mail. She will help run activities and games and teach the children first-aid and cooking skills to help them obtain their badges.

According to the Palace, Middleton loves the idea of scouting and working hands-on with children, saying it tied in well with her own outdoor hobbies.