A tribute to Dr Jim Aitken

We are deeply saddened to share the news that Dr Jim Aitken passed away in Lilongwe on Sunday, 19 April 2026, one day short of his 89th birthday.

Jim was a retired Edinburgh GP who first went to Malawi in 2008 as part of a work party to build houses, led by the late Alan Laverock and SMP Board member Kevin Simpson. The team returned in 2010, this time to Livingstonia, where Jim fell in love with the place and committed himself to supporting people in the community.

Over the next 16 years, Jim divided his time between Edinburgh and Livingstonia and came to be hugely respected and loved by many on the plateau. He had expressed the wish that if he passed away in Malawi, he be buried in his beloved Livingstonia. The CCAP Church and the community honoured Jim with a funeral service in the historic Livingstonia Mission Church at 11am Malawi time on Thursday 23 April. He was laid to rest alongside Scottish missionaries in the Mission Station graveyard.

SMP extends its heartfelt condolences to Jim’s family, friends, and all those in Scotland and Malawi whose lives he touched.