大象传媒

Brighton has the most internet searches for the word lonely. Plymouth is top for debt problems. Aldershot has the most Buddhists. Jenny Kleeman explores locations at the extremes of UK society, uncovering the stories behind a revealing statistic.

The Office for National Statistics gathers data on everything - the economy, employment, even our wellbeing. We have more data available than ever before, including from search engines, and increasingly the government and big businesses are making crucial judgments based on these statistics. But these numbers can鈥檛 tell us everything. In this series, Jenny explores the true stories behind the figures.

Episode 5: Buddhism
What brought the Dalai Lama to the grounds of Aldershot FC in Hampshire in both 2012 and 2015? The 2011 Census shows that Aldershot has the greatest population of Buddhists in the UK. Jenny spends a day at the Buddhist Community Centre and finds out how the Gurkha Justice Campaign, supported by Joanna Lumley, has transformed the town in the past decade.

Produced by Paul Smith

A Somethin' Else production for 大象传媒 Radio 4