Joan Aitken

Joan was Scotland’s Traffic Commissioner between 2003 and 2019, working to raise the safety standards of those operating goods vehicles and buses and coaches in Scotland. Her background is in law – she qualified as a solicitor in 1979 and has had a varied career including local government, private practice, legal journalism,  mediation and as Scottish Prisons Complaints Commissioner (“the prisoners’ ombudsman”). Joan joined the Transaid board in March 2019. For pure recreation she can be found in art galleries, cinemas, theatres, bars, restaurants, on hillsides, at dinner tables and of course, on the saddle. She is not a sportswoman so long distance cycling and hills don’t come easily to her.