Own a camper van for the price of one package holiday.
A small Bristol group is buying one proper camper van together — bought this November, converted over the winter, on the road for Easter weekend 2027. A one-off share of £3,500–£5,000 (depends on final numbers — five people maximum), and it's part-yours for years.
a year, per share
free & unlimited
dated & planned
Everyone wants a camper.
Nobody wants the price tag.
There are three ways to get weekends away in a camper van. Two of them are why you don't have one yet.
Hire one
Every single trip, forever. A week in summer can run £700+ — and it's never actually yours.
YOU OWN: NOTHINGBuy one
A decent converted camper costs as much as a car — then sits on your drive depreciating 340 days a year.
USED: ~25 DAYS A YEARCo-own one
Paid once — the exact figure depends on how many join (five people maximum). One properly converted van, a written agreement, and a fair booking system. The dead time gets shared out instead of wasted.
YOURS: 9+ WEEKENDS/YR + FREE MIDWEEKA proper conversion,
not a mattress in a Transit.
We buy a recent high-roof panel van — researched, shortlisted from real ads, and checked over properly — then convert it over the winter to a written 14-phase build plan. Built for two: a couple, or two mates (there's an occasional third berth, but two is what it's designed around). The conversion is taken care of: led and mostly built by the founder, with anything safety-critical or specialist done professionally. Members don't lift a tool unless they want to.
What we're aiming for
The exact van gets chosen with the group, from a researched shortlist of real listings — the market's already been priced, so we know this budget buys it.
What gets built in:
- Fixed double bed — always made, proper mattress, huge storage under
- Diesel heating — warm in November, no condensation misery
- Occasional third berth — a mate or a kid; the van's really a two-person camper
- 12V electrics — lighting, USB charging, leisure battery + portable power station
- Separating toilet — cleaner than a chemical loo, stored discreetly
- Roof vent, insulation and sound deadening throughout
- Portable gas cooking + quality cooler box (3–5 days cold)
- Reversing camera, full safety kit — smoke + CO alarms, extinguisher, first aid
- Solar panel if the build budget allows — otherwise the first locked-in upgrade
Real numbers, priced from real ads.
Every line below has been costed against the actual UK market — van listings, parts prices, the lot. No guesswork, and the full costing sheets are available to anyone serious.
EVERYTHING ON THIS PAGE IS THE STARTING POINT — THE DETAIL GETS AGREED BY THE GROUP, IN WRITING, BEFORE A POUND MOVES.
The conversion? Taken care of.
The build is led and mostly done by Matthew — a Bristol tradesman who runs a local installations business, naturally hands-on. Strip-out, insulation, boarding, bed, fit-out: the lion's share by his own hands, to a written 14-phase plan. Anything safety-critical or specialist — gas, heater exhaust, electrical sign-off — is done or checked professionally, covered by the build budget. Priced as a job, that work is worth at least £5,000.
That work is his share — he puts in no cash, and it's declared here, up front, before you put a pound in. You get a hand-built camper without lifting a tool.
And it's earned, not given
His share vests stage by stage as the build completes. No finished van = no share — and the group keeps everything their cash bought.
He carries the build risk. You don't.
When do I actually get it?
More than you'd think. Three ways to use the van — and the first one's the best part.
It's free? It's yours.
Nothing booked in the next week? Take it. No cost, no permission, no using up your allowance — claim it on the shared calendar and grab the keys. Most of the van's life, this is how it gets used. Sunny Friday? Check the calendar.
The van never sits wastedWant certainty? Book ahead.
Everyone can pre-book weekends — at least 9 a year, guaranteed (more if the group's smaller). That's your guarantee, not your limit: used all nine? You just switch back to take-it-when-it's-free — which is most of the time. Midweek's free and unlimited all year anyway.
The floor, not the ceilingBig dates, shared like adults.
Easter, bank holidays, the summer weeks — shared out between members at the start of each year, with a fair rotation so nobody gets the best ones twice running. No February scramble, no WhatsApp wars in May.
Nobody owns August- At least 9 pre-booked weekends
- Unlimited free midweek nights (outside school holidays)
- Unlimited take-it-when-it's-free
- Your fair share of Easter, bank holidays and summer
THE GUARANTEE IS THE FLOOR — MOST MEMBERS WILL USE THE VAN FAR MORE.
A realistic year: Easter weekend (yours this year), nine booked weekends through the seasons, a handful of spur-of-the-moment Fridays, a quiet midweek in September. Twenty-five-plus nights away — on one share.
Simple fair-play rules keep it honest — return it clean and full, don't hog the calendar.
All written down in the plan you'll get before deciding.
Dated, planned, and already costed.
This isn't a pub idea. There's a 12-document working plan behind this page — build spec, 14 build phases, costing sheets, booking rules, and a plain-English member agreement ready to sign.
The group forms
Members meet, kick the tyres on the plan, negotiate the agreement, sign. Insurance confirmed in writing before anyone pays a pound — that's a hard rule.
We buy the van
Shares in, van bought from a researched shortlist of real listings — checked over properly: MOT history, HPI, service records, test drive.
The build
Strip, treat, insulate, vent, wire, heat, board, build. Fourteen phases, led by the founder with specialists on the jobs that need them, photographed as it goes — watch your van come together.
Easter weekend: maiden voyage 🏕️
The first golden weekend of the year, in your van. May Day and half term follow five weeks later.
Read this part twice.
A co-op only works if everyone knows exactly what they're signing up for. So here's the stuff a salesman would bury:
It's co-owned — not a van on your drive
You're buying a share and a fair system. You won't get every bank holiday — you'll get your fair slice of them, guaranteed, by a process you can read before you join.
It's a hand-built Version One — not a showroom van
Matthew's hands-on, tooled up, and working to a properly written plan — but this is a first build, and it'll look like a good honest one, not a £60k professional conversion. Warm, dry, solid and safe (the critical stuff professionally checked), best suited to a couple or two mates — and improved every year from real trips. Built for camping, not for Instagram. If you want glossy, this isn't it. If you want weekends away from Easter, it is.
It comes back clean, full, and emptied — every time
Full tank, toilet emptied, rubbish out. If your trip causes a cost, you pay it: fuel, fines, damage, cleaning. Normal wear is shared. Hide damage and that's treated more seriously than the damage.
One person leads, the group decides the big stuff
Matthew runs the build and day-to-day so it never becomes a committee. The group decides the big things by vote — and new members need everyone's yes.
Nothing moves until insurance is confirmed
No money collected, no van bought, until shared co-owner use with all named drivers is confirmed insurable, in writing. If that fails, there's no project — and nobody's out a penny.
If the project dies mid-build, cash members get paid first
Van and materials sold, cash members repaid pro-rata before anything else. The founder's unvested share gets nothing. Your downside is protected in writing.
Leaving is planned for, not awkward
Want out? Members get first option to buy your share at an agreed valuation method. It's a longer-term thing though — there's no instant cash-out button.
The things people actually ask.
Can my partner and kids come? Mates?
What does my share actually guarantee?
Why doesn't the founder pay cash like everyone else?
Do I need skills, or to help with the build?
How does the choosing actually work?
What if someone pranged it or brought it back filthy?
What if I want out in two years?
Smoking? Dogs?
Who's behind this?
Is this legally sorted?
You read everything, didn't you?
Four founding spots.
Chosen, not sold.
This isn't first-come-first-served — fit beats speed. Four people get picked for the founding group, everyone reads and shapes the same agreement, and every member needs everyone's yes — including yours, choosing us.
What gets you picked
- Reliable — the sort who returns things better than they found them
- Easy to share with — sorts things by talking, no drama
- Useful hands get noticed — mechanic, sparky, chippy, upholsterer… a shared van loves a skill
- Bonus: camping kit, storage space, or proper trip miles under your belt
▸ 12 working documents behind this page — yours to read before deciding
▸ Insurance confirmed in writing before anyone pays anything
▸ Agreement signed before a pound moves
▸ When the four spots are gone, membership closes — the only way in after that is buying a share off a leaver, with everyone's approval
Apply for a spot
Yes, the form's a bit long — that's on purpose. Five minutes of effort is the first test of whether you mean it. No commitment though: applying just starts a conversation, and you'll get the full plan documents back before deciding anything.