Winner of ‘Design Heli a Holiday Home’ competition announced

We at Coast & Country Cottages are delighted to announce the winner of our 2025 children’s art competition, ‘Design Heli a Holiday Home’, launched earlier this year in aid of our Charity of the Year, Devon Air Ambulance.

About the competition

The creative competition invited children of all ages to design a holiday home fit for a helicopter, with entries flooding in from across South Devon and beyond. The designs were full of colour, imagination and originality, making it a tough job for the judges to pick just one winner.

Meet the winner

Matilda with her competition prize and winning design

After much deliberation, Matilda Horswill has been crowned the overall winner, impressing the Devon Air Ambulance panel with their imaginative and thoughtful creation. She will receive a £500 holiday voucher to enjoy a self-catering family break in 2026.

Tracy Hepper, Corporate Partnership Manager at Devon Air Ambulance, said:

“Huge thanks to everyone who took part in this summer competition by Coast & Country Cottages to design our Heli a new home! It’s been a real pleasure to look through all the wonderful, creative entries, and really hard to find a lucky winner! Well done Matilda, your design has everything our Heli needs to keep it safe and ready for the next mission! Thank you for your tremendous effort! My thanks also go to Coast & Country Cottages for creating this fantastic competition idea to help raise awareness of our charity.”

Matilda’s winning design for the ‘Design Heli a Holiday House’ competition

Supporting Devon Air Ambulance

As part of our ongoing support for Devon Air Ambulance, Owner Success Account Manager Christina Harris also took part in the ‘Heli Hike’ earlier this year. She raised an impressive £472, which will be fund matched by the company.

Suzy Thompson Yates, Regional Owner Success Manager at Coast & Country Cottages, added:

“We’d like to say a huge congratulations to all the children who entered our ‘Design Heli a Holiday Home’ competition! The creativity and imagination shown was fantastic. We’re also incredibly proud to have raised funds and awareness for such a valuable local charity, whose work makes such a difference to communities across Devon.”

Funds raised through the competition and the Heli Hike will help Devon Air Ambulance continue its vital work providing emergency medical care across the region.

To make a donation in support of Devon Air Ambulance, please visit our Just Giving page.

You can make a donation here