Less than half of people across each Berkshire borough are Christian, with more residents now declaring themselves non-religious, the Census 2021 has revealed. 

This number was highest in Bracknell Forest, where 40.4 per cent of respondents state they have ‘No Religion’, however, it does have the second highest number of people identifying as Christan at 47.5 per cent. 

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has the largest percentage of Christians (49.8 per cent), with 31 per cent of people in the borough having ‘No Religion’. 

Bracknell Forest Council’s Assistant Director of the Chief Executive’s Office, Abby Thomas, said regardless of trends the authority’s priority remains “giving the best service we can to residents”.

She added: “We operate as a community leader and a service provider. We are proud of Bracknell Forest’s diverse and cohesive communities and seek to ensure we represent, listen to, understand and support people from all religions and those with no religion, cultures, creeds and beliefs.

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The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead councils were approached for comment. 

Similar statistics are seen on national scale, the data shows that for the first time fewer than half of people in England and Wales describe themselves as Christian. 

It has been revealed that 46.2 per cent of people in the areas are Christian, down from 59.3 per cent in 2011, whilst the number of people describing themselves as non-religious has grown from 25.2 per cent to 37.2 per cent in the last ten years. 

Slough is a major outlier across the Berkshire boroughs, where just 13.1 per cent say they have no religion. It is also the area with the lowest percentage of people who identify as Christian (32 per cent). 

However, it has by far the largest percentage of people who describe themselves as Muslim (29.4 per cent) – this is 22.9 per cent above the England and Wales wide figure. 

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Slough Council leader James Swindlehurst, said the composition of town is “much more akin to a London borough”, with a twentieth century history “built on migration” as people came to the area to find work. 

He added: “For many residents, faith is a focus of our sense of community, with friendship, services and wrap-around education provided in our Gurdwaras, Mosques, Churches and Hindu temple.  

“We are an ethnically and culturally diverse borough and celebrate this every day.” 

Wokingham and Reading have similar numbers of people declaring themselves as having ‘No Religion’, at 36.9 per cent and 36.3 per cent respectively.  

The data shows, however, that Wokingham has a larger percentage of residents who identify as Christian (44.7 per cent) compared with Reading (39.6 per cent) 

Wokingham Council leader Clive Jones said that the figures around the rising numbers of non-religious people were “not surprising” and put it down to young people being less exposed to Christianity. 

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He added: “I am in the 44.7 per cent but when I was younger I went to Sunday School. These days, things like school assemblies are less focused on religion and Sunday School’s aren’t as common.” 

Whilst Christian is still overwhelmingly the majority religion in Reading, the number of residents describing themselves as Hindu (five per cent) and Muslim (8.9 per cent) is greater than that seen nationally. 

A spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said the local figures are “broadly” a reflection of the national picture, calling its cultural diversity “intrinsic to the fabric of the town”. 

They added: “The fact so many different communities and people of different backgrounds choose to live and work in Reading is something we are extremely proud of.”