Who We Are

The Cardoner Network has been running volunteer programs since 2012 and became a registered charity in 2019. We have been working with many of our overseas partners since we began and have developed meaningful relationships through the dedicated service of our volunteers. We work with partners that we know and trust who can benefit from the knowledge and experience our volunteers can share. In return our volunteers have a unique opportunity to grow and learn while building meaningful relationships and sharing their lives with communities who have common values and can offer a very different perspective.

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Our Mission

Cardoner Network’s mission is to deepen the human, spiritual and intellectual formation of young adults, grounding them in a love of the poor in the service of the church. We do this through providing opportunities for young adults to serve both locally and abroad with developing communities and vulnerable populations to empower and bring hope for a better world.

Our Story

The Cardoner Network began at St Aloysius’ College due to the enthusiasm and aspirations of those students for further service opportunities, beyond their final year of high school. The founder of The Cardoner Network is Fr. David Braithwaite SJ. On the sidelines of a school rugby match, Year 12 students asked Fr. David about volunteering opportunities in their year after school. In response he led a group of boys, mainly from his Studies of Religion class, to Vietnam on their first ever post-school Immersion. Following that, the number of Immersions grew.

Initially, two young men worked for one year as volunteers in the Vinh Diocese of the Catholic Church in Central Vietnam. Since then some 105 volunteers have followed them in Vietnam, Thailand and Micronesia for six- to twelve-month placements. The Cardoner Network has also placed around 600 short-term volunteers on Immersions to our partner communities around the world.

The Cardoner Network also participates in local initiatives where our university students volunteer their time to support disadvantaged communities at initiatives around Sydney.

We also saw the launch of The Two Wolves: Abroad as the new name for our overseas programmes. The two arms of the social enterprise are now much more closely linked, as pathways for
the formation of our young adults, in the service of the poor. Our Immersion offerings have expanded to meet the strong demand for these transformative experiences of service. 2017 saw the doubling of our 3- to 12-month overseas volunteering programmes, now known as the Cardoner Volunteer Corps (CVC).

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The Cardoner Network 2022