He was a governor and vice-chairman of the British Institute of Florence for almost 40 years, from 1959 to 1997. He was president of the British-Italian Society from 1967 to 1995. He launched the Italian People's Flood Appeal to help Italians caught up in floods in the 1960s, to supplement other charities, such as the Venice in Peril Fund, which were established to conserve artworks. For this work, he was appointed a Grand Officer of the Italian Order of Merit in 1968.