DOZENS of pensioners will go to the Oyster Feast this month thanks to businesses digging into their coffers.

Earlier this year Colchester mayor Julie Young, who has helped to run the Alternative Oyster Feast for more than 25 years, pledged to get as many pensioners who attend that event as possible to enjoy the traditional feast instead.

The cost of the feast is £95 per person and invitations have now been sent to around 100 of the alternative feast’s usual attendees.

Mrs Young said: “The good news is I have managed to attract enough business support to fund every pensioner who normally goes to the alternative event who wanted to come.

“I don’t have the final numbers yet as we are awaiting replies but I have achieved my target. Normally there are around 111 people who go.”

The only people who have not been invited are a small number of pensioners who live outside of the borough.

Among those businesses who have helped support Mrs Young’s idea are McDonald’s, Aldi and Bloor Homes.

She said: “I really would like to pay tribute to the generosity of those businesses who, without their support, the pensioners would not be able to attend.”

Although many of the pensioners who normally attend the alternative event will now no longer be going, this year’s Alternative Feast will still be going ahead.

The event, which will be put on by Dave Harris, will be a small lunch for those pensioners who, for whatever reason, do not want to go to the traditional feast.

Yesterday it was revealed who the guest speakers would be at the Oyster Feast, onOctober 28.

They are Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, who is a former student at Colchester County High School for Girls, Steve Goodsell and Francis Duku from Show Racism the Red Card and former Colchester Sixth Form College student, poet Luke Wright.

Mrs Young said the line up, along with the pensioners attending, would make this year’s feast extra special.

She added: “They will be entertaining, informative and challenging in almost equal measure and they certainly all chime with my mayoral theme for the year of Making Changes.”