Trump and Brexit make social innovation necessary, says SEUK

Social innovators need to be at the forefront of tackling inequality – more so now than ever before.

Nick Temple, deputy CEO of Social Enterprise UK, welcomed delegates to the Good Deals 2016 conference at the University of Birmingham on Monday evening.

He said: "I'm not going to talk about Trump and Brexit, but it doesn't feel like a time for joking."

He added that the problems of race, class, gender and equality had been brought to the surface over recent months. "Our movement needs to be at the forefront of tackling those issues, more so than ever before," he said.

Temple said that his afternoon talking to people at the Good Deals conference had brought several positive changes to his attention. One of these was the fact that the Columbia Threadneedle UK Social Bond Fund, which has been developed with Big Issue Invest, has been included in Scottish Widows' life and pensions fund range.

"We are genuinely starting to impact and we are bringing the mainstream to us," he said.

"We can build a more inclusive economy and a fairer society," he added. "I hope that Good Deals can be a big part of that – helping you to do it more and do it better than before."

• Good Deals 2016, the UK's leading international conference for social enterprises, social investors and social innovation, continues on Tuesday 15 October. Follow the news via #GDeals16.