Cadillac is launching its midsize executive saloon, the BLS, on a tour of motorway service stations, supporting the charity SPARKS.

The Cadillac BLS Launch Tour will visit 84 motorway service areas over a fortnight to showcase the new BLS to a potential audience of more than one million motorists.

The tour begins on Friday, April 28 and ends on Thursday, May 11 and money raised during the event will be donated to SPARKS. Many of the venues will be supported by the attendance of SPARKS’ sports celebrities.

Alistair Welham, Cadillac’s head of marketing for the UK, said: "Taking a new Cadillac to motorway service areas is a very effective and novel way to showcase the BLS to a very large number of people, many of whom as business motorists are one of our key target audiences."

SPARKS, founded in 1991, funds medical research that has a practical, positive impact on the lives of babies and children. Since its establishment, SPARKS has funded 152 medical projects in the UK, committing over £12 million to tackle conditions such as cerebral palsy, meningitis, the dangers of premature birth, spina bifida, childhood arthritis and cancers.

SPARKS president Martin Johnson, CBE, England’s World Cup winning rugby captain, said: "It’s the kind of corporate partnership that can help us achieve our goal of helping all babies to be born healthy and grow up healthy. Not enough people realise that pioneering paediatric research in the UK is heavily reliant on charities like SPARKS rather than the public purse."

Johnson will be representing SPARKS to receive the final fundraising cheque at the end of the Cadillac BLS Launch Tour in Birmingham on May 11.

Cadillac BLS Launch Tour celebrity appearance dates and venues

DATE TIME VENUE CELEBRITY
Friday April 28 11.00 Moto, Heston, Middlesex Tim Foster
Sunday April 30 TBC Moto, Kinross, Perthshire Dan Parks
Tuesday May 2 13.00 Leigh Delamere, Eastbound, Wiltshire Victor Ubogu
Thursday May 4 TBC Bridgwater, Somerset BBC Casualty Actress
Thursday May 4 TBC Moto, Cherwell Valley, Oxfordshire John Francome (TBC)
Saturday May 6 TBC Moto, Exeter, Devon Mike Dickin
Sunday May 7 TBC Moto, Trowell, Nottinghamshire Chris Broad
Sunday May 7 11.30 Moto, Lancaster Alan Kennedy
Sunday May 7 12.00 Moto, Pease Pottage, West Sussex Jimmy Hill
Tuesday May 9 TBC Moto, Leicester Leicester Rugby Player (TBC)
Tuesday May 9 TBC Moto, Reading Tony Gubba (TBC)
Wednesday May 10 TBC Moto, Cardiff Simon Bowman (TBC)
Wednesday May 10 TBC Moto, Wolverhampton Glenn Hoddle/Wolves FC representative (TBC)