Daily roundup 1 December: Football sex abuse, gambling, and school places

The NSPCC has received at least 860 calls in a week after it set up a hotline for victims of sex abuse in football. The Independent reports that the charity made more than three times as many referrals to the police for child sex abuse after opening the hotline than it did in the wake of the Jimmy Savile case. ?


Around 450,000 children between the ages of 11 and 15 are gambling on a weekly basis, research has found. The Telegraph reports that the findings from the Gambling Commission revealed 9,000 of those children are likely to be "problem gamblers", despite six in 10 of those surveyed agreeing that gambling is dangerous. ?


Leaked cabinet letters have suggested that the Home Office - when it was being run by Theresa May - wanted the children of illegal immigrants to go to the bottom of the list for school places. The BBC reports that May's department suggested schools could withdraw places offered to children if their families were found to be living in the country illegally and the Home Office wanted schools to carry out immigration checks.?


The number of children born in England and Wales with at least one parent born in a foregin country has soared to 33 per cent - up from 21.2 per cent in 2000. The Daily Mail reports that the Office for National Statistics said there were 230,811 babies who had either one or two immigrant parents out of a total of 697,852 births last year. ?


A "sadistic" nursery boss has admitted a string of cruelty charges against children as young as one. The Birmingham Mail reports that a judge said 56-year-old Christine Button, who was in charge of On The Button in Dordon, was guilty of behavior that "went out in the Dark Ages".


More than 20,000 pupils in Catholic schools across England and Wales are Muslims, figures have revealed. The BBC reports that the biggest group of non-Catholic pupils are other Christian denominations but almost 10 per cent are from Muslim families.


A foundation aimed at offering funding and support to local cash-strapped children's charities in Barnet has officially launched. The Young Barnet Foundation will act as a voluntary and community sector membership organisation that looks to support and grow activities and services for children and young people across the borough.