MORE than 100 footballs will be send to Turkey after a New Forest cub scout group wanted to help less fortunate children abroad.

Members of the Copythorne Zulu Cub Pack will now meet with the Turkish Ambassador Abdurrahman Bilgiç in London to present the equipment.

The balls will be sent to Turkey later this month, and negotiations have taken place to make sure they arrive to safely to their destinations on the border of Syria.

As reported, the cash was raised as part of the pack's centenary celebrations; the eight to 10-year-olds collected 20p coins for their ‘kick-a-ball’ charity campaign.

The cubs hosted a number of events, including car washes, bob-a-jobs and cooking a 60-guest meal.

Between January and October, the pack collected more than £1,000.

After collecting the money, the cub scouts headed to St Mary’s Stadium, home of Southampton Football Club, to purchase the equipment.

The club heard of the group’s effort and had agreed to sell the footballs at a discounted rate.

Group leader Ruth Farmers said: "I am overwhelmed with the generosity of the Turkish ambassador; the way the embassy has supported the young boys has been amazing.

"The boys themselves are so excited to visit the embassy, as am I, and it is just so nice that they are being recognised like this.

"They put a lot of work into their events last year to raise the money and this is just the recognition they deserve."

Originally, Ruth added, the plan was to take them to the Jungle refugee camp in Calais, but that has since been removed.

The boys of Copythorne Zulu Cub Pack will meet the ambassador later this month, on a date yet to be arranged.