Lily Cole's skills sharing website was created to build "more trust between strangers".
Lily Cole
The 28-year-old model, actress and entrepreneur, who founded her website Impossible.com three years ago re-launched the site with an app this year, has admitted she thought up the idea in a bid to "debunk the myth" all people are "dangerous and scary".
The flame-haired beauty - who has previously starred in fashion campaigns for Alexander McQueen, Chanel and Moschino - told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: "The very point of the app in a way is to try and create more trust between strangers, because I feel that there's a lot more myth than reality around people being dangerous and scary. We're trying to debunk that myth."
However the 'St. Trinian's' star has revealed she never intended to make money from her business and wanted the app, which allows people to exchange skills without money.
She explained: "If you think about it in a logical, rational way, we didn't really lose any of the skills or resources that we need to survive as a society [during the recession] - we just lost the money or means to them, so I thought, could we fund alternative ways of trading them, and could the internet and technology facilitate that?
"When I began I never set out to make money from Impossible. The goal was for it to cover its own costs but I was aware that would probably take time."
Although the star has slammed allegations she is in competition with rival brands and has revealed she hopes the idea of helping people for free will spread and be a success.
Lily - who launched the site with Wikipedia's founder Jimmy Wales - said: "I do believe things like Impossible will grow and take off. I just don't know if it will be ours or someone else's. "
Tagged in Lily Cole