The Richard Bonney Literary Fund

A new funding round is opening for 2026. Applications will be accepted from 1st January 2026 and be considered on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Please apply via email to christinembonney@gmail.com

The Richard Bonney Literary Fund provides small grants annually for individual researchers or community organisations.

Grants to individual researchers: The Richard Bonney Research Awards

These grants are intended to facilitate and promote research and to disseminate knowledge for the public benefit in the specific areas of tolerance and harmony in multi-faith and multicultural societies. The grants will help individual researchers meet costs such as those for publishing, research visits, attending conferences or seminars. Applicants should be embarking as early career researchers in areas related to the fund, or have switched their research interests to this area.

The Fund will make between 1 to 3 Research Awards annually of up to £800.

Successful applicants will be required to provide a short report to the Advisers to the Fund on the output(s), including an account of expenditure and use of grant money. This report should be no more than two sides of A4 paper in length.

Applicants should acknowledge the support of The Richard Bonney Literary Fund in any communications produced including the final research output(s). Applicants must have a UK bank account.

How to apply:

Please apply via email to christinembonney@gmail.com with a CV plus no more than 2 sides of A4 outlining:

  • Project summary including intellectual rationale, aims and planned output(s);
  • A breakdown of costs/budget;
  • Explanation of how this project will have an impact on communities beyond universities or colleges;
  • Provide 2 references, at least one of which must be academic, to accompany the application.

Grants to small community organisations: The Richard Bonney Community Harmony Awards

These grants are intended to recognise and reward significant practical work in improving interfaith or multicultural relationships. Grants may be used to assist small local community organisations to continue their work. They are aimed at funding practical activities, for example, creative projects, training volunteers, hiring space for holding social events which meet the aims of the Fund.

Applicants must have their own bank accounts and be able to demonstrate a proven track record of previous success in relevant areas of work.

The Fund will make between 1-3 Community Harmony Awards annually of up to £1000.

Successful applicants will be required to provide a short report to the Advisers to the Fund on the difference the grant has made, including an account of expenditure and use of grant money. This report should be no more than two sides of A4 paper in length.

Applicants should acknowledge the support of The Richard Bonney Literary Fund in any communications produced during the period of the grant.

How to apply:

Please apply via email to christinembonney@gmail.com setting out:

  • The aims of the project;
  • Relevant work already completed, demonstrating success;
  • An outline budget;
  • The names of 2 referees.

Previous Awards:

  • Nupur Arts Dance Academy: towards the Nartan Festival Talk on ‘The Origins of Indian Performing Arts’ delivered by Dr Maddalena Italia.
  • Kainé Management:  towards the delivery of ‘Sisters Can…’ Programme from April to August; weekly 2 hour sessions are intended to help young women (mostly from ethnic minorities) aged 16-25 learn new skills, address issues, and make plans for their lives.
  • Harborough District Children And Young People’s Charity: towards the “Travelling Forward” Project which delivers after school clubs to two Traveller Sites during term time. The project is well established and offers support to young people who are isolated and disadvantaged and regularly discriminated against as part of the Travelling community.
  • Charnwood 20:20 operating as TwentyTwenty: towards project resources for their Love4Life groups to support vulnerable girls aged 11-19 who are at risk of exploitation and exclusion from school.
  • St Philip’s Centre: towards ‘Embracing the Present, Planning the Future. Social action by the faith communities of Leicester’.

Professor Richard Bonney

Professor Richard Bonney (1947- 2017) was Professor of Modern History at the University of Leicester from 1984 until his retirement in 2006 after which he continued at the University as an Emeritus Professor in the School of History. He was ordained as a priest of the Church of England in 1997.

A leading academic and also a Christian priest, Richard was an expert on different faiths, and due to his own experience living in Leicester was a staunch believer in the importance of a society which breeds tolerance and respect for different faiths and cultures.

He fiercely opposed the oppression or subjugation of any group for their beliefs or faiths, and he actively supported marginalised groups with his writing and other activism. He believed that academia could strengthen and promote these values for the public good.

He wrote in a nuanced and informed manner on contemporary political issues such as terrorism and genocide, and the interrelationship between the political and the religious. His 2004 study Jihad from Qur’an to Bin Laden continues to be one of the most cited works in the field.

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