Rebel Badge Club Recenzje 

The book is a brilliant idea, which really does bring much joy and fun in new ways. It'll push you to try new things and experiences. The badges are costly, but well designed and made. There are loads of additional activities too and an annual Summer Camp, linked to the book, which are great for meeting like minded people and giving you opportunities to try experiences you may not be able to access otherwise.

However just stop there. Don't even think of venturing into the overly micromanaged Facebook group. Here is a place that you be micromanaged to within an inch of your sanity, despite being adult and buying into the whole RBC thing. If you present as a groupie and were the kid at school who was a suck up, you'll be just fine, otherwise good luck! You don't want to be thinking outside of any box the great cult leader has dictated for you to fit in, because that doesn't sit well and will cause her to increase her talon like grip on how you do the activities further, sucking every last drop of fun and joy out of it.

As for the Rebel Council, do the maths, £6 a month, (there are 142 current members), to write the clauses for books and badges and decreasing input into all things Rebel. I think there's only one winner in this and that's the author, who's laughing all the way to the bank. She is after all a great business woman, no-one can doubt that, but a manager she is not, nor does she have any understanding of neuro diversity.

The book itself is fabulous. However, I would advise against joining any of the extra activities. Like any cult, there are rewards for getting more people involved, some people are lovebombed and the leader has developed a cult of personality. If you disagree with the leader, you are ostracized and not treated as an adult with the right to disagree as she will play victim.
Regardless of being told that the groups are “optional”, in reality, you cannot get the full experience or truly feel part of the club without joining them. And once you are there, it can feel very much like you have to get in line, follow the rules and do as you’re told — or pay a monthly fee if you want the privilege of having your ideas heard in the council.

The main reason many people stay in the group is because of the friendly, supportive people they have met there. The community itself has some genuinely lovely members, and that is what keeps people coming back.

Personally, I believe the club could have real potential under new management. With a different approach to leadership, communication and criticism, it could become a much more welcoming and enjoyable experience for everyone

You are only allowed to post your work if it fits with the standards and ideals set by the person running the group. Anything deemed not to meet those expectations can be removed. If this really is a club where work is “not assessed”, then there should be no need to approve or reject every single post before it can appear. The constant moderation gives a very different impression.the way the owner conducts herself, responds to criticism and communicates with customers is ultimately representative of the business she runs and her ethics.

I have been part of Rebel Badge Club for over two years. I love trying new things through completing the badges, and I have so much fun attending the events. Charly, who runs the club solo, puts a lot of effort into thinking of fun new ideas, consistently asks for feedback and tweaks things to make them into a better experience for us. I have never known any other company to be so caring and thoughtful.
Charly only has to meet you once before she knows you by name. She has built a community and it's a testament to her that everyone who I've met through the club has been incredibly kind, friendly and accepting of others.
I love all the badgework posts in the Facebook group, watching people try new things and getting inspiration to push myself out of my comfort zone!
Rebel Badge Club helps me take my mind off a stressful career, has given me the chance to meet new people in my local area and has helped me find new hobbies. I love how I can dip in and out when I have time and nobody is anything other than completely supportive.
Thank you Charly!

As I am in my senior years, I enjoy working through the badges to keep me occupied. Trying new things brings me lots of joy and I’ve even picked up a couple of new hobbies.
I have attended a few events in Reading where Charley has been welcoming and accommodating for my limited mobility.
A great little club for like minded people!

I love this club, it has me trying new things and reconnecting with past hobbies. One of the big pluses is the careful online group moderation which keep the free online groups fun and safe places to be. Cant wait to attend an in-person event 👍🏻

My Honest Experience

The badges and tasks are reasonably priced for a small business and can be fun, and I’ve met some lovely people through the community. While the optional meet-ups are a nice idea, they are unfortunately very overpriced for what you actually receive.

My main issue, however, has been with the owner. Regardless of whether certain spaces like the Facebook group are optional, it feels wrong to create strict, exclusive requirements just for the "honor" of being part of the club.

The biggest issue for me is the owner’s apparent inability to accept criticism or opinions that don’t align with her own. In my experience, constructive feedback was not welcomed and could quickly become personal. Rather than being treated as an opportunity to listen and improve, criticism seemed to be viewed as an attack.

This is what led me to feel that the group was being run less like a community and more like a cult-like environment. I don’t use that description lightly. It was the combination of what I experienced: an expectation that members should remain positive and supportive of the owner, very little tolerance for disagreement, criticism being taken personally, and people who questioned things being made to feel unwelcome or singled out.

To me, there is a significant difference between being a strong leader and expecting unquestioning support. A good leader should be able to hear criticism, accept that people will have different opinions and deal with disagreements professionally. In my experience, that wasn’t what happened.

The group is presented as a community, but I felt that there was an unspoken expectation to conform to the owner’s way of thinking. If you supported her, everything seemed fine; if you challenged her or expressed dissatisfaction, the experience could be very different.

I strongly believe that if you run a business or community, you have to be prepared to hear criticism. Not every customer is going to agree with you, and not every experience is going to be positive. Being able to accept criticism professionally is part of providing good customer service.
What concerned me most was feeling that protecting the owner’s image appeared to take priority over genuinely listening to customers. Raising a legitimate concern shouldn’t result in the customer feeling like they are the problem.

I don’t expect perfection from any business. I expect professionalism, accountability and the ability to accept feedback without turning it into a personal issue.
This review is based entirely on my own experience and how the situation made me feel. Others may have had a completely different experience, and that’s absolutely fine. However, I believe potential customers deserve to know that, in my experience, questioning, disagreeing or providing criticism was not always welcomed.
A genuine community should allow people to think independently, disagree respectfully and speak honestly. It shouldn’t feel as though you have to agree with the person in charge to remain accepted.

You have two options for the badges: do them on your own, or share them with the community. If you choose to share, expect heavy criticism and ridicule. The owner treats these fun challenges as if they were a high-stakes university degree. Worse, she expects you to guess the unwritten rules in her head, claiming it’s "fair" because she treats everyone equally. It isn't fair—it's just unnecessarily strict. These are meant to be fun badges, not a government qualification. A hobby group should have flexible rules that work for people, not gatekeeping that stresses them out. If you disagree with the owner or provide creative criticism, you may not receive the understanding or customer service you would reasonably expect. This is not a shared space; it is her exclusive domain governed strictly by her terms.

I’ve chosen to remain anonymous because I have genuine concerns about the way criticism and disagreement are handled, and I do not want to risk being personally targeted or pursued simply for sharing my experience. Unfortunately, the fact that people feel they need to stay anonymous for their own peace of mind speaks volumes in itself.

Following a critical feedback submission, the owner has publicly targeted the reviewer in a Facebook group. By portraying herself as the aggrieved party, she is actively soliciting retaliatory positive reviews from others to artificially inflate her rating and obscure the original genuine feedback.

When I started RBC, my only friends were my husband and my sister and one or two others. My twenties had knocked me down with the loss of my newborn, dealing with invasive prenatal testing, anxiety, etc. I rarely went out, I never had plans, I was in a rut.

This advert popped up and I was intrigued as my sons did Beavers and Scouts at the time so I gave it a go.

I have the best friends I ever had now, I’m brave enough to travel about on my own, constantly in cities playing hilarious games, taken up new hobbies and sports I NEVER would have tried. I completed a marathon hike this weekend.

I am brave and confident and really happy. I can’t attribute all my happiness to the group obviously but it has been a catalyst for so much. I’m making plans into 2028 at this point 🤣

Charly is really responsive and while thing may go awry from time to time (not for me admittedly) as with any business, it always gets rectified and it’s a one woman business. RBC is built upon its community, which is supportive and friendly, full of people who want to build you up, not tear you down. Those who don’t play by those rules don’t stay long luckily.

If you are thinking about it, jump in! Really has changed my life and brought me my extended family ❤️

I have been part of Rebel Badge Club since 2022. I lived the idea and was looking for something for me whilst being a new mum. I have bought all the books, I do the monthly and quarterly badges, some of the annual badges and some of the events. I find the costs of the books reasonable when considering the amount of effort and time that has gone into writing badge activities (anyone who has been in any organisation that runs badge programmes will appreciate this). Badges cost what I would expect and what I pay for badges at events and tourist attractions. They are also optional for the vast majority of the club (and as a result there are many badges I have completed but not yet bought a badge for). The events I have attended cost no more than what I would spend on a day out in a city, and I have seen far more of the places I have visited than I would have on my own. I have also had amazing experiences and met amazing people. This year I have had significant health issues (diagnosis of stage 4 cancer) and as a result of side effects from my treatment, have been a lot less mobile and active than I have before. At absolutely no stage have I felt excluded or unable to fully participate in the group and it's activities. The Facebook group is a positive place (a rarity in social media) and a pleasure to be a part of. I have met Charly now several times at events and she is a spectacular human being, with bundles of energy to create a positive space and generate a lot of fun. Have read some negative reviews about people being intimidated or scared of her - certainly nothing I have seen or heard of and definitely not my experience at all.

If you are looking for a fun group, challenging activities, ideas for a raining day or just trying to reclaim some me time, I cannot recommend this group enough. In fact, over the years I have bought and gifted several books to friends

My son was in Cubs and to be honest, I was a bit jealous of all the badges he was earning 🤣 I’m half kidding, I’m very happy for him 🥰 However, it’s been lovely to be part of a group where I can earn my own badges. I have met some lovely like-minded people. Whether you like crafting, reading, or adventuring outdoors, there’s something for everybody. I also find it great that there’s a disabled group too where we can discuss adaptations for badges we can’t quite manage. I find the Rebel Badge Club inclusive, and a really fun place to be.

If you want to try new things and reignite a bit of curiosity, Rebel Badge Club is a solid place to start. While working through the badges is great on its own, what truly sets the club apart is its community. Making decent friends as an adult is hard, but the club provides a surprisingly welcoming, down-to-earth space where connecting with people happens naturally. I have made genuinely steadfast friends as part of the group and look forward to the in person events where we can get together and share in activities that we all enjoy.
The range of badges and activities is massive, so while a few challenges will be a pass, the variety means there is always something accessible that fits your interests. Ultimately, it turns what could easily be a solo hobby into a genuinely encouraging, shared experience.

I support my sons to access the Rebel Badge Club as they both have a learning disability and additional medical and physical needs. Nearly 2 years later, I feel justified in writing this extremely positive review of all my interactions with the club.
We started slowly - I was looking for something that would help us with ideas, activities, social time but on our terms - my sons are adults and I was starting to feel that I was running out of new ways to challenge them to learn and interact.
We don’t attend ‘in person’ meet ups because, so far, I haven’t worked out the logistics but they have completed badges, monthly challenges, yearly challenges, virtual ‘feasts’ and are now loving being part of a patrol where they have regular Zoom calls, individual and patrol challenges and have lots of silly fun.
After losing their dad, uncontrollable laughter had taken back stage but now that is a full on part of our lives again.
They have gained so much from being a part of this club; we have discovered new crafts, new things to do, new places to go and they will do anything for a badge! The sense of purpose and satisfaction it brings, the pride of achievement and have so many people to share that achievement with - the Facebook group has to be the most supportive and encouraging group I have ever experienced. I don’t ‘do’ Facebook and my sons are vulnerable so a closed, private group that is governed with sensitivity so that only kindness and support is allowed is exactly right for us.
The group is incredibly inclusive. One of my sons is visually impaired and, on the whole non-verbal; he is encouraged to participate on his terms - do what he can do, be the best he can be, as long as he is having fun and learning along the way. Other members even send him sensory sensitive post!
My other son has led a sign language singing session and a craft session and received so much praise - it was about his skills, his enjoyment and his sense of fun - his learning disability, physical disabilities and medical needs were not even mentioned - this was about him as a member of the group - this is inclusion.
Yes, I support them and help them to access everything the club has to offer but they have welcomed me too and I feel valued and respected - we have found our second home.

Badges are extremely overpriced for what you get. Charly is rude and has gone on the record telling others they weren't allowed to use her badges for AI whilst using AI herself. Yes, this is her right as an author, however I find it rather hypocritical asking others not to steal whilst stealing work herself.

I have moved over to Pawprint and I am much happier with the experience and the community, I would not bother with the Rebel Badge Club. It’s also clear Charley does no research before running her mouth on the internet stating “Pawprint badges only do challenges for children.”. When they make it clear their badges run from ages 3 to 18+, the challenges changing as you get older. Highly recommend as an alternative, many different challenges for all ages.

As a response to the update - it warrants a one star review over a year later as I have since found out of the other bad experiences people have had with Charley, and not just myself. I find it strange that she feels personally attacked by a one star review and tends to harass the reviewer rather than genuinely bettering herself and her business.

I've been a member for about a year now and it's been brilliant. I describe it to other people as "scouting for adults" but it really is so much more than that and my life has changed quite a lot since I joined.

At it's heart, there are the books which detail the badges you can work towards and there's no pressure if that is all you want to do. But there is a lot of extra stuff going on if you want to get more involved. The Facebook groups are great and it's really fun to see what badges people are working on and what they have gotten up to. There's also fun monthly challenge badges, the Maverick Awards which are like adult Duke of Edinburgh awards, and other groups for specific interests such as penpals and a book club. There's also a Rebel Cup you can compete in. Additionally, there are in-person big events which include camps, weekend themed residentials and games held in different cities. There are also local Rebellion groups where you can meet up with local Rebels to socialise or work on badges.

As someone who never did scouts or guides, I've loved this. I love the variety of what is going on and the community of people who are supportive of each other and welcoming. I've been to several events by myself and found it easy to meet people and get involved.

One of the things I love about this is the way you end up doing new things. I've tried new arts and crafts which I've really enjoyed. I've started volunteering with my local cub scout group and loved this. I've discovered an interest in apothecary and developed a Lego addiction. I've also met a lot of really nice people and had fun playing crazy games with them.

Another thing I really like about the club is that it really is up to you how involved you get. There are times when I'm focused on what I'm doing and times when I don't have the energy for it, and that's never a problem. There's lots of extra things going on which you can pay for (and I definitely think they are worth it) but there is also a lot of free stuff such as participating in the online communities and meeting up with your local Rebellion (mine usually meet in a coffee shop so it's just the price of a drink). Although I love the badges, you don't have to buy them, and a good alternative is the stickers you can get which are only about £6 for the 52 badges in a book. It feels very inclusive for all budgets and all levels of commitment.

If you are thinking about buying Book One or all three books, I'd definitely recommend it. The online and in-person groups are fab - it's a lovely community of people who are all interested in supporting new members and sharing this experience. It's a good way of making new friends especially at events or at your local group. Charly (the person who owns/runs the club) does a great job of creating a positive environment and coming up with new and interesting things for people to get involved with. I'm really thankful for what she has created and would recommend it to anyone.

I joined Rebel Badge Club just over a year ago and have had so much fun in that time. I have been made so welcome both within the club itself and my local rebellion and it has provided me with opportunities that would never have been possible otherwise. I love that the over-riding theme is ‘do the activities of the club that bring you joy’ with no pressure to be involved in everything. I live with a disability and find I’m completely accepted for who I am and everything is made as accessible as possible. It is rare to find such a welcoming, positive and fun environment.

I've been using this company (1 person small business,) since 2022. I enjoy the merit badges, and have made many friends taking part in the challenges and events. It has helped me find new things to try and do, many I have enjoyed and continued, others I enjoyed not so much but I tried it and found it wasn't for me. I great way to try new things and be motivated to clean out the fridge ..

Running scouts week in, week out, is fun BUT we never get to earn the badges. Now with Rebel Badge Club I can!
The nostalgia this company has brought me is huge, I've learnt lots of different badges, made lots of new friends and even got my scouts involved in the monthly challenges. I think the chocolate challenge was their favourite!!
I also attended a weekend away - Rebel Retreat at the beginning of May which was the relaxation retreat I needed.
There are free Facebook pages that help with accountability and are moderated by a group of people to keep posts kind and friendly, and even a spoonie group to help it br accessible for all. A great community which I'm so happy I've found. Thankyou ☺️

My wife has been involved in the Rebel Badge Club for a few years now, and has spent hundreds of pounds on books, badges and special events like the Rebel Cup and a Treasure Hunt.

Recently, she went to look at the group on Facebook, which is essential to participate in most of the club, especially the parts she really enjoys (the monthly badges, book club and Spoonie group). She found she had been blocked and removed from all of the groups.

The owner of the company, Charly Lester, has claimed that she blocked my wife because she posted an angry face emoji on a Facebook post. I can categorically say that this is a lie, as my wife was unconscious in hospital at the time it was poster, without access to her devices. It was possibly an accident by me, or our son, who were replying to concerned Facebook messages about her health, but it certainly wasn't her. Even if it had been, to remove an active member for an emoji with no communication whatsoever, is both childish and unprofessional.

I've looked at all communication between my wife and Charly, as Charly has also accused my wife of being rude and angry. My wife is the most gentle, kind, mild-mannered soul. She has not once been rude or angry to Charly. In fact, looking at Charly's communication with others, it is her who is rude, arrogant, blunt and downright offensive, not just to my wife, but to other members of the club.

The general vibe I get from the groups on Fb is that people are scared of Charly. I can see why.

My wife mentioned to me a while ago that a few people had said Charly was ableist and I believe she is, and this is why she has taken against my wife. Once, during a badge, one of the tasks was to visit a museum. My wife asked Charly if she could visit a museum virtually as she was completely housebound, and Charly's response was so disgusting, I cannot share it here. After seeing this, I can definitely agree that she seems to strongly dislike disabled people. My wife could not complete that clause of the badge which was extremely disappointing for her. Why does Charly seem to enjoy stopping disabled people from accessing badge clauses, I wonder?

Most of her response to my wife on here is lie after lie. She has had posts that haven't been accepted, and Charly said these were not managed by her. However, we have screenshots of her communicating with my wife, declining the posts, and the (ridiculous) reasons why! We have evidence to back up every claim my wife has made, and to disprove Charly's allegations.

The main and most upsetting part of all this is that my wife is a very unwell, disabled wheelchair user. She has lost so much since she became disabled, and doing the monthly badges, making like-minded friends, and participating in the club had given her a new lease of life. She is completely housebound and is looked after by carers and nurses, who loved to chat to her about the club. Everything that was giving her a reason to live has now been torn away in one moment, due to something she did not even do. My wife is devastated, and cannot understand how someone could do this to her, and be so, and I really do mean this when I say it, evil.

I am supporting my wife in taking legal action against this company, both to reclaim lost funds, and for defamation of character. Anyone who knows my wife knows she is not rude, angry, or anything else she has been accused of. What she is, is a very unwell, young disabled woman, who lives a life of pain and misery, and has now had her main interest and hobby taken from her, in the nastiest of ways.

*Everything responded to below from the company is lies. Legal action being taken*

I have been a member of the Rebel Badge Club for years. I am an ex-Guider, which I did for 30 years and I had to give up due to becoming seriously ill/disabled. I found the Rebel club and thought it would be a great way to work towards goals from home, as by this time I was confined to bed.

I bought the three books and started to participate in the Facebook groups. They even had a Spoonie Rebel group for people like me. I also joined some sub-groups for my interests, like Rebel Readers and my local Welsh Group.

As I participated, I soon discovered that the owner of the company seemed to be incredibly rude to people. I hadn't experienced it personally, but I had seen examples of it towards others. No one ever spoke up, and it seemed as though people were terrified of her.

In 2025, I joined the Rebel Cup, which is an additional year's worth of activities. I paid full price for 12 months, but was kicked out after six, which surprised me as I expected to get what i paid for. I didn't say anything, as I had joined halfway through the year, but if it was my company, I would have ensured people either knew if they joined part way through, they would still have to pay for an entire year. I was never once told this.

Anyway, as I participated in the cup, I noticed that Charly, the owner of the company, started to pick at me. She made me do extra steps that other people didn't have to do. She spoke to me in the rudest manner, and I had a number of private messages from other members in support of me, informing me that she does this to people she takes a dislike to, and eventually pushes them out when she has extracted enough money from them. I noticed that every time I tried to post something, my posts were rejected for ridiculous reasons and again, I had messages from people in the group, saying that she was a bully, and very obviously picking on me.

I was extremely shocked to read this, as I had never met her, nor had anything to do with her. She had apparently taken offence to me asking a question about disability accessibility in the main group, so I can only imagine that her targeted bullying was based on ableism.

Nevertheless, I tried to ignore her, and carry on with the activities I enjoyed. I feel very low most of the time due to pain and isolation, so the club helped me to basically stay alive. If it wasn't for the motivation, I dread to think.

This year, I decided to participate in a Treasure Hunt, which was advertised as accessible to anyone and do-able from home. I paid for the Hunt, received my pack, and joined in. This is when Charly ramped up her aggression towards me. She did not like me asking any questions, and she very much did not like me asking something about payment.

Just before starting the Hunt, we were informed that we would find it easier if we had a hard copy of the Rebel club magazine. We were not told this at the time of ordering, as I would have added one to my basket at the time. Although apparently if we did that, we would be punished and not get a shiny sticker.

I was taken aback that the magazine itself was £6, and that the postage would be another £6. As the owner of a business, I post orders regularly, and know that a magazine certainly does not cost £6 for P&P. I can post a bulky order across seas for that! I was then treated terribly, and spoken to like dirt when I asked an unrelated question about the Hunt.

In my opinion, it was a devious way of making extra money on top of the £30+ we had paid for the Hunt itself. These tactics seem to be used often especially charging excessive postage for tiny fabric badges. Exploiting people is something I could never do as a business owner, but we are all different.

I then saw someone in the main group ask a question and was horrified at the response given by Charly. She strongly implied that the person asking the question was "thick". This appalled me, and some it the friends I have in the group were talking about how Charly is the personification of a "Mean Girl". Please note that I had never said anything whatsoever to Charly about any of this, and continued to just get on with things.

Imagine my surprise when today, weeks later, I wanted to check what the August Monthly badge was, and could not find the group. I was shocked to see that I had been blocked from the main group, the Spoonie group, and removed from the Readers group and my local group. I have done nothing to warrant this. No unkind words, no posts,in fact, I haven't even accessed the group for weeks, as I use a different Facebook account for daily life, and I had not been logged in to the one I use for Rebel Badges.

I am furious this has happened with no warning, especially after the sheer amount of money I have spent on badges, books, the cup, the treasure hunt, etc. Charly is a bully, and it looks like it is based on ableism

I've been a member of Rebel Badge club since 2023. I joined at a very difficult time in my life when my mental health was not great and I was looking forward to r something just to pass the time and feel like a person again. I can say over past 3 years my confidence has grown, my mental health has gotten better and I have become more active in the group. It is a great way to try new things in a safe space and you can do as little or as much as you like. The person who runs it does it by herself and does a wonderful job. Thank you for everything.

I’ve been a member of the Rebel Badge Club since the back end of 2024 and love it! Having never been to Brownies or Girl Guides as a child the RBC has definitely itched a spot.

I went in full throttle in 2025, doing merit badges, monthlies, quarterlies, an annual challenge, rebel cup, pen pals, book club and local rebellion. This year I’m switching it up a bit and have swapped out rebel cup to join the rebel council, and I’ll also be going to my first ever in-person event later in the year!!

There’s so much choice, with something for everyone, where you don’t need to do everything all at once and get overwhelmed. With new member fb groups to help navigate the club, there’s always someone around who has been a rebel long enough to point you in the right direction if you’re stuck.

I’ve loved my first 18 months as a rebel, and look forward to getting more badges in the future to add to my very first camp blanket!

Charly has given me something I never had as a kid, and I couldn’t be more grateful!!

Life change isn't an overstatement for me, I am starting to make new friendships and doing things I never imagined trying out like learning about particular topics, crafting and learning new skills. A really supportive community.

As someone who has joined this year and have gone all in as a participant I wanted to share my perspective on some of the negative reviews on here as I feel it's important for anyone considering joining, not to feel alarmed or misled when seeing them.
To me, it's a very clear misunderstanding on what the Rebel Badge Club is, as made incredibly clear, it's a business (owned and run by one person), which you as the customer can decide how much you engage with. I think it's not only an incredible idea but has been organised and delivered in a way that allows flexibility and enjoyment whilst remaining safe and inclusive (which is quite rare considering it's open to anyone over the age of 18 world-wide).
Yes they are strict on what can/cannot be posted, this is so that it keeps to what the group is for, prevents confusion, avoid duplication of information and remains respectful. I have had a couple posts not approved, and was given clear feedback as to why, which makes sense (mine would have caused confusion) and I'm grateful for the strictness because it allows for no-drama, easy, inspirational, reading through the posts, rather than stress (which is the case for many public Facebook groups) keeping on point which is all about completing the challenges and activities (called clauses)

Regarding the cost, again with the exception of one book, everything else is optional (even buying the actual badges once you've completed the criteria for a merit badge), joining the Facebook group comes at no extra costs. There are options to pay a small additional cost to participate in additIonal challenges. think of these like an 'add-on' This seems to be an issue for some, of the very few people, who are complaining, but it's no different to say buying an expansion pack to a game, or a higher tier when buying an in-person experience (again, like so many other businesses do) There have been people who have dropped out or not joined on some of these because they currently can't afford it and I haven't seen nor believe there's any judgement or discrimination towards them.

I think the confusion comes when it's often being compared to childhood experiences such as guides/scouts/woodcraft folk and the likes, although yes there's an overlap in the concept (that's the whole point, an opportunity for adults to be able to have that experience to do activities and challenges, earn and collect badges and feel that sense of achievement which isn't related to work), it's not a charity, nor paid for by someone else, you pay for the experience (like you would for anything else) and I think that's something some people aren't quite understanding especially because the kindness, support, sense of community and belonging is what people usually only associate with in non-profit/charity type things.

It's very simple, if you find out it's not your kind of thing, then you can just leave. If you only want the book, you don't have to join the Facebook group, If you want to join the Facebook group but not do any of the additional things, then that's fine too. If you want to do literally everything that's on offer - go for it.
If you are thinking about it, and it appeals to you, I encourage you to give it ago because for a lot of people (the majority) who discover Rebel Badge Club, it's an amazing adventure to embark on that is really about trying new things and having fun, something we adults, often forget to do.