Feature: Accessible Iris
We're thrilled to introduce you to "Iris" - the UK's first accessible campervan for hire. Born out of a passionate quest to provide inclusive holiday options, "Iris" offers a beautiful and flexible space for families with special needs. Let Cody and Jemima's inspiring journey take you on a delightful adventure filled with love, determination, and the freedom to explore. Hop aboard and discover the magic of "Iris" and the unforgettable experiences that await you and your loved ones. Welcome to the world of accessible adventures!
Where are you right now? How did you get here?
We have just launched “Iris” the Campervan, which is, as far as we know, the UK’s first accessible campervan available to hire.
Iris was born out of our frustration at the lack of accessible holiday options for families like ours with a child with complex medical needs and/or disabilities. Our daughter Cali was born with a rare chromosome condition and needs a wheelchair by day and an accessible bed, and a host of machines by night. What little accessible accommodation there is out there is always booked up, expensive, and often not really “us”.
Cody has a background in building tiny homes, so when the pandemic hit and he couldn’t work because we were shielding Cali from covid, we decided that it would be a good time for him to make our dream of creating a campervan for our family come true. We soon realised that we’d hate to have an accessible van sit doing nothing when we didn’t need it so decided that we’d create a van that we could rent to other families like ours.
We didn’t have the money to pay for Iris’ conversion, so we decided to try our hand at crowdfunding. To our astonishment, we smashed our target and discovered how much support there was out there for our project.
The end product is a beautiful, airy and calm space with a number of accessibility features designed seamlessly into the build. Iris has the capacity to transport a wheelchair user, has hot running water and heating as well as good storage space and a well-equipped kitchen. The layout is deliberately flexible, seats can be added and beds can be taken away. We wanted the van to be as flexible as possible for all the groups of people that might want to use her.
Tell us about yourself. Why’d you choose your lifestyle? How long have you been at it?
Prior to having children, we had travelled through Central America and then lived in Spain together. We would often head off for holidays in vans that Cody had converted and particularly loved to spend time in the Pyrenees mountain range. When Jemima became pregnant, we assumed we’d continue to live an adventurous life with our new baby, but when Cali was born with complex medical needs our wings were clipped and the overseas adventures were swapped for spells in the local children’s hospital. Holidays were a few days respite in the children’s hospice. For some time, we hardly left our home city of Bristol at all. When Cali was two, we had another daughter and around this time we realised we had to find a way to give us all a bit more of an adventurous life.
Tell us about your rig. How long have you had it, how much distance have you put on it, where have you taken it?
Iris is a long wheel-based, high-top Peugeot Boxer. We bought her new in 2020, and since her conversion, our longest trip was an epic journey to the south of Spain with our daughters. Now she is being hired out to other families she is going to be hopping all over the UK and Europe.
How did you learn about SEEKR? What product(s) of ours do you have onboard? How’s it working out for you?
Like many disabled people, our daughter is not good at regulating her temperature, and getting too hot can be dangerous. So, we knew with hotter summers coming that we needed to have good airflow in the van to keep her cool and well.
Cody set out to look for small, high powered, and versatile fans suitable for tiny homes and came across the Caframo Sirocco II fans which fitted the bill perfectly. We have two fans installed and they’re working really well, and provide a strong, powerful flow of cool air. We’ve got them positioned so that one can be aimed at the child’s bed and quiet space at the back of the van, whilst the other one can blast into the living area. They are next to the skylights so can be used to extract heat and smells from cooking.
What’s next on your adventure checklist? Any plans for the near future? Distant future?
At some point, we want to visit Scotland, Ireland, and mainland Europe again, but for the moment we are so happy to see our calendar being filled up with bookings from other families planning accessible adventures.
Follow all of Accessible Iris' adventures!
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Happy traveling! Check out our store locator, or ask for Sirocco IIs to be installed in your next campervan conversion.
Make the Good Life Cooler with SEEKR by Caframo, and JOIN THE CLUB: Send us a request for a "Make the Good Life Cooler" Sirocco Fan Club sticker, and tag us on Instagram @SEEKRlife, #MaketheGoodLifeCooler!
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