Pictured above: (l/r) Brian Wakley, chief executive of CORD, with Mark Ashfield, a director at Harrison Beale & Owen

A leading accountancy firm has tied up a deal which will see extra funds raised to support rebuilding work in war torn countries across the globe.

Chartered accountants and financial experts Harrison Beale and Owen has named Leamington-based international peace building organisation CORD as its nominated charity for 2010.

CORD works to help rebuild communities and homes, provide education and promote a peaceful future in areas badly affected by conflict.

The charity, which was formed in 1967, employs 13 people at its Leamington base and carries out work through a network of about 900 people based in Burundi, Chad and Northern Uganda in Africa as well as Cambodia in Asia.

In order to ensure the rebuilding and development work is sustainable, the charity ensures that the majority of people carrying out the projects and delivering the schemes are local nationals who will be able to continue the work and pass on the processes to future generations.

HB&O already had close ties with CORD after acting as auditors for the charity for more than 14 years and Mark Ashfield, a director at HB&O, said the firm was delighted to develop the links further.

He said: "Thanks to our relationship with CORD we have witnessed at close quarters the effects of the important work the charity carries out in these war-ravaged nations.

"With this in mind we wanted to do everything we could to support them, and this seemed like the next logical step.

"We are delighted to have named CORD as our chosen charity for the year and we are looking forward to working closely with them on a number of projects which should help to promote the charity's work and raise valuable funds in the process."

Harrison Beale and Owen, which has offices in Leamington and Coventry, will support the New Street-based organisation through a number of fundraising events over the course of the year.

Potential events in the pipeline include quiz nights, a charity golf day, a race night and an end of year dinner.

Brian Wakley, chief executive of CORD, said: "We are extremely pleased that Harrison Beale and Owen has decided to lend its support to CORD.

"It is a fantastic arrangement, because as well as providing extra funds for the charity, events organised by HB&O also allow us to gain additional exposure with their staff and clients.

"It also frees up our own staff to focus on charity work rather than organising fundraising events, which is extremely important to us, as we have a relatively small team."