TOP Scots football stars are being urged to support a national anti-stalking campaign.

Pupils at four South Ayrshire schools, who took part in an ambitious pilot project, have joined forces with Ayr United and former Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year Ann Moulds to encourage clubs to get on board.

Ann, who set up Action Scotland Against Stalking after surviving a horrific ordeal at the hands of a stalker, explains: “Pass the Ball is designed to make children think about their actions from an early age, to try and root out problem behaviour and avoid difficulties in later life.

“The pupils in South Ayrshire, from Annbank, Coylton, Dalmilling and Newton Primaries, have worked hard over the past three months, discussing a range of issues such as the potential dangers of posting messages and pictures online.

“The sporting element of the programme gave the boys and girls the chance to join training sessions with professional footballers, where they learned the value of teamwork and mutual respect.”

The pilot programme ended this week with an all-day football tournament at the Citadel Leisure Centre in Ayr, attended by around 130 pupils.

Now the charity is hoping to roll out the project across the country and the pupils plan to tweet some of Scotland’s top players at Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibernian and Kilmarnock in a bid to get the ball rolling.

Rhys Berry and Sophie Harrison, both aged 11, are primary seven pupils from Dalmilling Primary School.

Rhys said he hoped other clubs would follow Ayr United’s lead.

He added: “Ayr United is a big local club but it would be great to see other teams in other areas help to spread the message.

“I’ll be helping to get in touch with football clubs around the country and hope to see others like Rangers, Celtic, and Kilmarnock retweet their support too.”

Sophie said she hoped the campaign would soon find new supporters.

She added: “It’s been great to be part of the project and working with other schools has been really interesting.

“Some football teams may be rivals but we want them to put all that to one side and support the Pass the Ball campaign.”

Councillor Ann Galbraith, chairwoman of the South Ayrshire Multi Agency Partnership (MAP) set up to tackle violence against women and children, said: “Pass the Ball is an ambitious programme with a positive message, and this next stage is proof that armed with information, young people can help drive change.

“We have had a fantastic response from the pupils and it’s great to see them volunteer to contact high profile players directly to ask them to lend their support to this valuable campaign.

“We look forward to working further with Action Scotland Against Stalking in future and hope to see more organisations backing the campaign in the months to come.”

Roddy Macdonald, community team leader at Ayr United Football Academy, said he was looking forward to seeing Pass the Ball go from strength to strength.

“This project has been a great example of partnership working and our focus has always been on the kids and their personal safety,” he added.

Stalking continues to make headlines, with recent research from the UK Criminal Justice Survey revealing that one in six men and women have experienced stalking in the last 12 months. Pop star Lily Allen also spoke publicly about her treatment following a stalking case.

Ann, who successfully campaigned for tougher sentences for stalking crimes, resulting in changes to legislation in Scotland, the UK and around Europe, said: “I’m immensely proud of the way the young people have responded to the Pass the Ball programme.

“The support of Ayr United has been central to the project and we hope that other top players will respond to the message from these enthusiastic young people and start spreading the word.”

“We hope this will start the ball rolling and encourage more organisations to support us.”

She added: “We aim to find new supporters to help us extend our work across the country as we continue to make the case that in 2016, stalking should be viewed as completely unacceptable.

“I hope our professional football clubs respond to that call.”