PARTICK THISTLE winger Joe Cardle has made sure that unwell kids at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children will still have a Christmas to remember this year after dropping off three car loads of presents to cheer them up.

The 33-year-old raised funds and collected presents to donate through the Joe Cardle Academy, with the gifts being dropped off in the capital yesterday afternoon.

Cardle said that he was delighted to be able to give something back to the community – adding that his team-mates at Firhill chipped in with donations of their own with no Christmas night out to look forward to this year.

“It was an incredible thing that we managed to do,” he said.

“One of the kids at the academy has been in and out of hospital since he was a baby so they do a yearly collection for the kids’ hospital.

“We managed to jump on that with them and got funding from the academy and even the Partick Thistle boys donated some of the fines as well. At this time of year it’s nice to give something back.

“We thought we’d put the money we raised through the Academy over the last wee while to good use.

“It was nice because other parents brought in collections as well.

“This time of year, the players would normally go away to Dublin or Newcastle and spend a fortune on a weekend away on the booze. The money is definitely going to a better cause this year!”