Comfort food and craft cafe recruits women aged mainly over 60, who are on the cusp of being socially isolated

A public convenience might be the last place visitors to an east London street would expect to eat lunch, but thanks to a new cafe run by grandmothers, they are guaranteed to be spending more than a penny.

Nana, a comfort food and craft cafe, now open in Clapton, sits in one half of a renovated public toilet – and it's fast becoming a destination with a difference. Not only can customers expect a menu packed with heart-warming and affordable grub, but the cafe is staffed by volunteer older women who are putting a lifetime of cooking and nurturing skills to use.

"It sounds cheesy, but it's about bringing everyone together," says Nana founder, social entrepreneur Katie Harris. "I never understood why older people are separated in society or abandoned, and the cafe breaks down those barriers."

The cafe recruits women aged mainly over 60 and who are on the cusp of being socially isolated. Each Nana works a set shift each week and after three months each will take a small share in the profits. Among the teapots and cake stands, soups and stews, plans are also afoot to host craft classes in knitting, crocheting, embroidery and sewing.

It's an idea that strikes at the heart of a changing demographic in every community. According to a recent report by charity Age UK, the number of 55- to 64-year-olds living alone has increased by 50% in the past 15 years. The report, published in March 2013, also linked isolation and loneliness with a 26% higher death risk. Of the 3.8 million older people living alone in the UK, it is estimated that 70% are women.

"On the one hand, you have talented, passionate and enthusiastic older ladies stuck indoors and looking for something to do. On the other hand, you have a community of people looking for tasty food at a reasonable price. So, why not bring those groups together?" says Harris, who started her career as a design consultant within the public sector.

But Nana is not a venture that has sprung up overnight. Inspired by her own 88-year-old grandmother, 29-year-old Harris had the vision for the cafe more than a year ago. Since December 2012 she has trialled the idea as a pop-up cafe in a nearby pub, the Elderfield, but was always on the look-out for permanent premises. When the local preservation trust, the Clapton Improvement Society, began work to save a derelict Victorian public toilet on Brooksby's Walk a perfect partnership was forged.

The cafe serves comfort food. Photograph: Nana

To raise funds for the interior fitting of the cafe, Harris used the crowd-funding site Kickstarter and managed to bring in a little more than her target of £15,000 in just 32 days.Following six months of construction work, half of the building now operates as Nana, with a commercial kitchen and cafe downstairs and a roof-garden on the second floor. Meanwhile, next door, the public toilet has been put back into use complete with a restored Victorian hand-drier. To make the social enterprise financially sustainable, Nana transforms at night into a bar called the Convenience serving craft beers and wines.

"We have found a great way of running a community cafe without paying a premium for premises in this trendy part of London," adds Harris.

And, for women like Anindita Greco, the youngest volunteer at Nana, the project has been a lifesaver. The 54-year-old Italian mother of three cooks and serves and also plans to take workshops in crochet and knitting. Although she has one grown-up daughter at home she feels in danger of losing touch with people around her.

"I don't work and I'm a single mum and I felt I needed to get out into the community and meet people. Here I can talk and share my skills. Just because my children have grown up it doesn't mean I've stopped being a mum," she says.

The volunteers bake cakes for sale. Photograph: Nana

Similarly, for 62-year-old Lyn Cornwall volunteering at the cafe is about reconnecting with people of all ages. "A mother's work is never done, and when my children flew the nest I missed my caring role. The cafe is challenging as well as being socially rewarding. It's not about money, it's about benefiting everyone."

And for Harris, the benefits don't stop at re-engaging older people back into the community. She has discovered the cafe serves a dual role. Women who are made to feel they are on the scrapheap suddenly have purpose, she says, and there's a surprising interaction with the customer too.

"Many of the customers are women with babies or young children. They can breastfeed here or have a screaming child on their arm and the Nanas aren't fazed at all. They know exactly what to do. The Nanas even give mums a well-earned break while they eat their soup or sandwich," she says. "This isn't a one-way street. It's an exchange of experience."

NANA is open Monday – Friday, 9.30am – 5pm at the Convenience, Brooksby's Walk, Hackney